A/N I'm sorry for such a long wait for an update. RL and a short vacation kept me from finishing this chapter until now. I know the relationship between Red and Lizzie is progressing slowly, but that is the way I see it happening. I can't see Lizzie jumping into a relationship so soon after Tom's death, especially his death at her hand. It will get there, in time.
Disclaimer: The Blacklist doesn't belong to me. I wish it did. If I did Meera would still be alive and Ressler would have been the one that died in Berlin 2. Sorry to all Ressler fans out there.
Every two hours one of them looked in on Red to make sure he hadn't decided to sneak out of the house. They hoped that he would have enough sense to stay put, but after this morning none of them thought he had it in him.
Lizzie opened the bedroom door as quietly as she could. The door had a slight squeak that she hoped didn't wake him up. Consideration for the noise went out the window when she saw that the bed was empty. All she could think of was what he could possibly be up to now. The idiot didn't think to call for any of them before getting out of bed. She stalked to the bathroom door which was partially closed and flung it open.
"What the hell did I tell you about getting up without assistance?" she yelled into the room without registering what she was seeing.
Red was seated on the side of the bathtub that was slowly filling up. He only had on a towel and the bandage that was wrapped around his chest. He had nearly fallen into the tub when she slammed into the room. With a grimace for the jolt that grabbing onto the other side of the tub had caused he turned to look at her.
"Lizzie don't you ever knock? As to what I'm doing I think it's obvious, I'm getting ready to bathe."
Liz gritted her teeth before replying as calmly as she could. "You can't get your stitches wet. You'll need to clean up as best you can in the sink."
Red reached over to turn off the tap on the tub. "I'm aware of my limitations Lizzie. I have no intentions of getting my stitches wet, that is why I'm bathing in the tub and not the shower. As you can see the tub is only about half full. That will be enough to allow me to get clean and still keep my bandages dry. This isn't the first time I've had stitches Lizzie. Now if you don't mind waiting outside I'll be done shortly."
"Yeah, that's not happening. I don't trust you as far as I could throw you. You have a choice on who will be in here keeping an eye on you, Dembe, Mr. Kaplan or myself. Which is it?" Lizzie said standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. This was the only way Lizzie felt confident she wouldn't reach over and strangle the life out of him. She couldn't believe how difficult he was being.
"I'm getting into the tub now. If you choose to stay or get someone else it doesn't matter to me. I feel filthy and I'm getting clean . . . now." With his last word Red dropped the towel and stepped gingerly into the tub. He gave a low moan of pleasure at the feel of the hot water as he eased himself down into the tub.
Lizzie stood there with a stunned look on her face. She couldn't believe what he'd just done. Did he have no modesty at all?
"Lizzie if you continue to stare at me like that you're going to inflate my ego even more than normal. You really should close your mouth. As my mother used to say, you'll catch flies that way. If you insist on being here can you at least help me wash my back." Red said with a smirk on his face knowing the only way to get her to leave was to embarrass her.
She quickly closed her mouth. She hadn't realized she's been standing there with her mouth hanging open. It took her a moment to realize that he was trying to make her uncomfortable enough to leave. Well two could play at that game she thought with a mental smirk.
She reached for the wash cloth on the towel rack next to the tub and knelt at the side of the tub even with his side. She reached down into the tub next to his hip to wet the cloth, then looked up into his face to see his reaction. He was wearing his Red Reddington impenetrable look, but she saw a shade of unease in his eyes. She could tell he didn't think she was going to take him up on his request.
"Do you have the soap?" Liz asked him holding out the cloth for him place the soap on it.
Red sat there not really sure whether he was happy that Liz decided to stay or not. He'd been pretty sure she was ready to bolt from the room when he'd dropped the towel, but then she seemed to regain her composure. He had a feeling this was going to end up being more embarrassing for him than for her, if he ever felt embarrassed anymore. He slowly reached for the soap and placed it on the cloth in her palm.
Liz slowly rubbed the soapy cloth over his lower back, careful not to get the bottom of the bandage wet. She hesitated for a moment before rinsing the suds off. She wasn't sure how she would be able to wash is upper back without the bandage getting damp at least. She leaned back onto her heels with her hands resting on the side of the tub while she considered her options.
Red turned to look at her when she'd leaned away from him, not sure why she'd stopped. He also was amused that she hadn't washed any lower than the small of his back and he couldn't seem to stop himself from teasing her about it.
"Lizzie you didn't need to be so literal when I asked for your help washing my back."
Lizzie sat there feeling her face heat with her blush. She had hoped that he hadn't noticed that she'd been careful not to venture any lower. But, damn the man for mentioning it. She quickly soaped the cloth up again and reached into the tub.
When Red felt the cloth washing the portion of his butt not currently hidden from site, he realized it hadn't been a good idea to tease her. He was having a not totally unexpected reaction to her touching him in such a way. He tried leaning forward a bit more to hide his lap from her site. He realized she'd caught him when he heard her give a wicked chuckle.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you enjoyed that portion of your bath quite a bit." Lizzie whispered into his ear.
Feeling her breath on his ear as she whispered into it only made the problem worse. He turned to look at her a bit more and looked into her eyes. He was honestly confused whether he wanted to continue this and see where it lead or admit defeat.
"Do you need any help washing anywhere else?" Liz couldn't help the evil grin that appeared on her face.
"I think I can take care of the rest of my bath by myself. You can wait in the bedroom and I promise to call you when I'm done so you can help me out of the tub."
Lizzie realized that she may have pushed the boundaries a little too much too soon, but damn it he had started it. She gave him a gentle smile and said she'd wait in the other room for him to finish up. Handing him the wash cloth she stood and grabbed a bath towel to dry her hands. She set the towel at the head of the tub within Red's reach and then left the room.
Red sat in the tub a bit longer without moving. Lizzie was becoming quite a surprise. The hadn't spent a lot of time together when not working a case. He knew how he felt about her and would welcome a relationship with her in time. This was much too soon after Tom, after all he'd only been dead a few days. Despite how much Lizzie knew her marriage was a sham, it would still take time for her to really come to terms with the end of the marriage. Red didn't want to make any definitive moves toward showing Lizzie how much he would welcome a non-professional relationship with her until she had shown that she had really moved on from Tom. In the meantime, he would enjoy getting to know Lizzie outside of the FBI agent in the next few days or weeks. He might be able to drag his convalescence out a bit to keep her around longer. With a smile on his face Red picked up the soap and washcloth to finish up his bath.
Lizzie sat on the side of the bed while Red finished up his bath. She loved the man, but hadn't anticipated her first view of not so "little Red" would be when he was recovering from a near fatal bullet wound. Liz had hoped to enjoy the next view a bit more the next time. As these thoughts went through her mind she heard a quiet "Lizzie?" from the bathroom.
Liz got up from the bed and cracked the door to the bathroom slightly, just enough to be able to hear Red more clearly.
"Are you ready to get out of the tub?" Lizzie called to him.
"Yes, I'm ready. I can wait here until you get Dembe if that would make you more comfortable." he responded quietly.
Liz paused before opening the door completely and stepping into the room. She walked over to the tub keeping her eyes on Red's face. She stopped at the side of the tub again and asked, "Do you need help getting up?"
Red narrowed his eyes at her not sure if she was teasing him after what happened earlier.
"I meant do you need help getting to your feet?" Liz asked again after realizing what she had said.
"If you don't mind helping, yes I need a little help getting out of the tub. I'm a little more tired than I thought I'd be."
Lizzie leaned down a little bit and grabbed the arm that Red had raised when he saw her moving to help. Between the two of them they had him standing in the tub. Liz reached for the towel and handed it to Red. He noted that she was carefully keeping her eyes away from him until he'd wrapped the towel securely around his waist. Red reached out and grabbed the hand that Lizzie offered to steady him as he stepped out of the tub.
"I'll go get you some clean clothes while you get dried off. Will you be okay alone?"
Red grabbed a second towel and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet.
"I'll be fine. Thanks." he said giving Lizzie a small smile in gratitude for her help.
With a nod Lizzie left the room leaving the door between the rooms open so she could keep an ear out for any calls for help. She looked through a few drawers in the dresser until she located some boxers, another pair of sweatpants, socks and a t-shirt. After knocking on the door frame she placed the clothes on the countertop next to wear Red was sitting.
"Call me if you need anything else. I'll be waiting in the other room."
Red slowly walked into the bedroom to find Lizzie sitting on the end of the bed. He gave her a small smile of thanks and Lizzie gave him brief grin in return.
"Where is Dembe and Mr. Kaplan?" Red asked Lizzie.
Lizzie stood up from the bed and replied, "They were in the kitchen when I last saw them. They were making dinner."
Red turned towards the door and started to leave the room.
"Wait, where do you think you are going?" Liz asked blocking his way to the door.
Red stopped before he walked into her. He knew she wasn't going to like his answer, but he was done lying around in bed.
"I'm heading to the kitchen to see if they have made any headway in finding out who hired Tom. I'd also like to actually eat something that isn't in liquid form tonight. So I thought I'd make my preference known to the two chefs."
With that Red moved around Lizzie and left the room. He moved right down the hallway to entryway and then moved left towards the kitchen at the rear of the house. Mr. Kaplan looked up from the pot she had been stirring on the stove when Red entered the room. She didn't appear happy to see him out of bed, but realized that Liz had managed to keep him resting in bed much longer than she had anticipated. Red slowly took a seat at the kitchen table and glanced between Dembe and Mr. Kaplan.
"Whatever you are cooking smells delicious." Red exclaimed. "I can't wait to eat."
Mr. Kaplan looked at Dembe and Lizzie and gave a small shrug. There was no way to make Red do anything he didn't want to do so they might as well give in gracefully.
"Mrs. Jackson left some food in the freezer. This is her beef stew that you like so well. It should be heated up shortly. Dembe will you get Raymond some water. He needs to keep hydrated."
Mr. Kaplan didn't react to the grimace that flashed across Red's face. She took what little pleasures she could when dealing with Red. It may have been petty, but he really did need to stay hydrated and wine or tea wouldn't fill the bill.
After they had all eaten they retired to the den. Red had been patient, much more than he was used to being, but now he wanted some answers.
"Have you found out who hired Tom?" Red asked Dembe.
"All we've been able to determine is that payments were sent from bank accounts that ultimately tie back to an entity known only as Berlin. We have determined it is a person and not the city, but other than that we haven't made any other progress."
"Lizzie did Tom ever mention anything about Berlin. Just a comment, something that may have slipped out unintentionally?" Red asked Lizzie knowing that the possibility was a long shot, but that is all they had at the moment. It would take a lot more time digging into Tom's past and tracking any of his travel to see if anything odd emerged.
Lizzie slowly shook her head. She'd never heard Tom mention Berlin, either referencing the city or a person. She could tell by Red's expression that he knew he was grasping at straws. She wished she had something to contribute to their search.
"Have Borokove dig further into Tom's background. Have him include his fake brother in the search. They would have to some contact in the past and see if he can dig up any other information on Jolene/Lucy. If she was his handler their lives had to intersect before now." Red instructed Dembe tiredly.
Mr. Kaplan who had been sitting quietly in a corner reading from one of the many books located around the room walked over to them. "Alright, you've given your orders to the troops, not that we needed them, we do know what our next steps need to be. Yours is to get back into your room and get some rest. If you do that I might even let you out of bed again tomorrow." she said with an obvious smirk.
Red looked at her sharply, but wisely kept his mouth shut. He didn't put it past her to drug him in his sleep if he argued. After all he knew where Dembe had learned that trick so well. Red slowly got to his feet and left the room after wishing everyone a good night.
