Aram was standing on the beach talking with Samar on the phone, when he noticed the change in the light. Dawn was approaching, and the blackness of night was lifting. The sky to the far side of the lighthouse had turned a deeper shade of blue as the sun approached the horizon.

"I can't hear Liz screaming anymore," he told Samar. "Oh, my gosh. What if she died?!" he asked her, closing his eyes at that possibility. 31 red velvet birthday cupcakes sprang to mind. He'd thought it so witty when he came up with 'Red' cakes for her birthday. What if they never got to make her 32 cupcakes next year? In his ear, he heard Samar.

"Or they have helped her and freed her from wherever she was. Which means she's alive, and so are Red and/or Ressler," she replied, ever the voice of reason.

"I hope you're right," he told her then turned at the sound of a boat engine. Across the water a second Coast Guard vessel was fast approaching.

"Okay, gotta go. The cavalry just arrived. Well, actually, more Coast Guard guys to help dig out the cave in."

"I'll let Cooper know," she told him and then hung up.

As the boat approached, the waves lapped up on the beach, rocking the first USCG boat that was anchored in the small inlet. On board, he could now make out half a dozen guys on deck. He nodded to himself. Excellent. The more manpower they had, the quicker they could get this done. Behind him, a voice called out to him.

"Aram!" Evans was jogging toward him. "Okay, we set up our sonar to read the depth of rock fall. He's running the scan now and it's looking like 12 feet of rock before we see a free opening on the far side," he said, adjusting the cap on his head as he watched the second boat approaching.

Aram looked up toward the debris then back at the water as the second Coast Guard boat anchored in the bay, the men on board wasting no time in gearing up and getting the dinghy lowered. "How long? How long will that take to get through?"

"We could be looking at 24-36 hours. That's a lot of rock-"

The ground trembled beneath their feet as fresh dust came drifting out from the rock fall at the opening.

"Oh, god! No!" Aram sprinted behind Evans toward the entrance to where the sonar was set up. Dust wafted in the morning air, lit in the glow of their floodlights and the rotating lighthouse beacon.

Deeks was getting more readings as the rocks settled within the tunnel. "Ah, man. Our 12 feet is now 15 feet. More of the tunnel just caved in. Good news is there is still free tunnel on the far side of the cave in."

Aram's heart sank. "Oh, no," he whispered, and sat down on the sand before he fell down. His friends were dead in there for sure.

His phone rang and assuming it was Samar again, he answered it without looking, his eyes fixed on the sonar screen.

"Agent Mojtabai, we-" came Red's voice.

Aram cut him off completely. "Oh, my! Oh, my God!" springing to his feet, he looked at Deeks and Evans and pointed to his phone. "It's them!"

"Aram," said Red patiently.

"I'm here. Yes. Mr Reddington. I'm here. It is SO good to hear your voice!"

###

As the dust in the tunnel began to settle after the second cave in, Conrad Lucas looked across to Reddington while Ressler and Liz lay in an exhausted sleep. Neither of them slept peacefully. Liz's mind was overrun with enclosed spaces, oppressive weight, suffocating dust and terror while Ressler's body was one mass of exhaustion, pain, infection and fever.

Hanging up his phone after briefing Aram on their situation, Red leaned back on the wall of the tunnel stretching his tired legs out before him. He could have called Cooper. But if there was one thing Reddington was good at, it was reading what people needed, so he had called Aram.

"Now, Conrad. Tell me what's going here," Red repeated, "I gather the men after us - after YOU - were the Cabal. That much I understand. What I don't understand is how they got here so quickly. We only discovered your name in their database mere hours before."

Conrad was still looking down at the agents, then held up his hand to Red. "Give me five minutes. If we're not going to the cave yet, I can at least get us a little more comfortable here," he said then walked down the tunnel, again leaving Red the flashlight. The bulb was getting dimmer now and the dark of the tunnel was closing in around them.

Red closed his eyes to rest for the few minutes Conrad would be gone. If he slept, it would be a minor miracle with the amount on his mind. They were trapped. Their access buried under tons of rubble. Donald desperately needed a hospital – and that had a familiar ring to it. And Lizzie needed to be checked thoroughly after her ordeal. The ground was hard under his butt and as he shifted uncomfortably his back muscles complained loudly at the work out they'd received. From the darkness to his left a voice emerged.

"Okay, here you go," said Conrad returning, dropping a pillow to sit on, and tossing him a clean jar full of water. He had the same for himself plus a large notebook. Placing two small homemade oil lamps in similar jars on the ground close by them, he lit the wicks. At once the area was lit by a soft, almost comforting glow. Turning off the flashlight, Red organized his pillow and sat again, sipping his water.

Sitting down, Conrad picked up his large notebook and a pencil then leaned over and moved one oil lamp a little more toward the sleeping form of Ressler.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" Red smiled. "Though he's hardly portrait material right now," he added, his smile fading as he looked at the sweaty, dusty agent.

"I can see beyond that," he told Red, and as he began to sketch in his notebook, Conrad began to talk. "The Cabal found me three days ago. Well, they narrowed it down to this island. They searched but didn't find me, but I knew eventually they would."

"Three days?" asked Red, tilting his head. "It was only yesterday we found your information among data in Garrison Clarke's possession."

"That English prick," Conrad interrupted, his eyes on his sketch pad.

Red gave a small grin, tilting his head, "He is rather an asshole, isn't he?" he agreed. "No matter, we, as in myself and my new friends at the FBI here," he waved his hand at the two prone agents on the ground, "had credible intel that Clarke had information that would be beneficial regarding the Cabal."

"And he did. The information you got from him is legit. All I did was add my name to their existing list," Conrad told him, glancing up at Red and then continuing his drawing. "I needed someone I could trust. So I placed my name on the Cabal database, then pointed your friends at the FBI to find that list.

Red narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man, nodding. "Interesting. So it was you who wanted us to find you."

In the light of the oil lamp, Conrad didn't look up, only nodded as he glanced toward Ressler then back down at his notebook. As he drew, his pencil chased away the blank sheet of paper, leaving a portrait beginning to take form in its wake. "That I did. You would see me on there and find out I was still alive then track me down just as the Cabal did."

"After so many years, how did they discover you were still alive?" asked Red.

"I was under the radar for 12 years after I 'died'. Safe and gone from their minds. Until someone I trusted betrayed me," he hesitated, looking away then back up at Red. "Four men arrived on the island the next day."

Red filled in the dots. "But they didn't know exactly where you were," he looked up at the tunnel and down toward the cave. "You went underground, literally."

"Exactly. This is where I've been for years. It's a private island, overseen by the Trust that owns the old mental sanatorium. It's worked well for me. With my condition, sunlight isn't kind to me. This is better," Conrad explained, eyes to his sketch pad as he worked.

"So, once the Cabal saw you had hacked their data and found me, they started tracking you," he added, glancing at Red.

"We thought as much," he said, looking at Ressler again. "We were ambushed and brought here for the sole purpose of them watching us as we drew you out," Red sighed, shaking his head as he leaned against the wall. "We knew it was a trap though. Our escape from their clutches was far too staged. Far too easy."

Conrad smiled apologetically in the lamp light. "That's pretty much it, yes. Except it wasn't the FBI agents I needed here. It was you."

"Why?"

"You're the only one I trust, my old friend," he said looking up at Red. "And I couldn't reach you directly. I couldn't exactly just look you up in the phone book."

"Yes, well, that's kept me alive. But you almost got yourself killed by them anyway." Not to mention the rest of us, he thought but held his tongue.

"It was a chance I had to take. I needed you to reach me before they found me. And I have to say, so far, my objective has been achieved. You are here. And the Cabal are not," he told Red, holding his notebook out at arm's length and looking at it in the lamp light.

Red looked pointedly at the man, opening his arms to encompass their surroundings. "THIS is achieving your objective?"

"If we had waited on the beach for the Coast Guard to land, those men would have caught up to us, killed you and your friends here and taken me."

"You don't know that for sure," said Red, remembering that they had not been harmed when ambushed.

"The one I told you of that betrayed me? They shot him after they got here. I was near the sanatorium up there and saw them shoot him in cold blood. That leader of theirs is not a force to be bargained with. Mark my words, you and your FBI cronies would have been killed if you had stood in their way in their quest to reach me," he said, tilting his head as he studied Ressler and continued to draw.

"If he's the one with the broken nose, then I've met him. I've seen the look in his eyes," said Red.

"He's got a broken nose?" Conrad chuckled at the thought. "Poor bastard. I'd love to break his legs to match."

"Courtesy of your portrait model lying there, yes," confirmed Red.

Conrad eyed Ressler with new appreciation and continued to draw.

"But what the hell did you do to piss them off, Conrad?" asked Red, shaking his head at the man.

"They discovered that the information I have on them resurfaced when I came back from the dead. Information they had long thought gone is still accessible."

"Where is it?"

Conrad pointed down the tunnel to his cave. "Some is in there," then tapped his head with his pencil, "and some is in here."

On the floor near them, Ressler stirred, gasping in pain in his sleep. Red looked quickly to him, then back up at the blue skinned man before him. "I'm flattered you reached out to me to assist you, but the fact of the matter is that now we're trapped in here and completely screwed."

"But the Cabal can't get in, which is a bonus," added Conrad.

Red gave him a frustrated look, then pointed at Ressler. "He needs a hospital. His appendix has to be close to rupture by now. And if he doesn't get that appendix out before then-"

"He could die…" Conrad completed the sentence, looking at the agent on the ground, then down to his drawing.

"And I can't let that happen," Red told him. "So we need to get out of here. Somehow. Someway. I need you to help me find it. In return, you get to come with us, out of the clutches of the Cabal for now.

Across from him, Conrad looked up at the tunnel roof then toward his cave. "There are many tunnels but most have fallen in over the years or are impassable. The beach access has been the one I've used for some time. But there is one way we can try. Though with the recent rains…" he trailed off in thought, and looked up at Red. "But we will find a way."

He put his notebook down, his drawing complete, and looked across at Ressler who was stirring more with the pain.

Let me see," asked Red seeing, leaning forward for the notebook.

Conrad handed it to him, and in the soft lamplight as Red gazed at the drawing, a slow smile broke out on his face. "Conrad, my friend, I didn't think it possible, but you've got even better over the years."

###

"Yes sir. Mr Reddington said they are alive. Though, Agent Ressler and Agent Keen are not doing so good." Aram told Cooper as he walked down the small beach a little way from the Coast Guard. The sun was rising behind him and as the darkness lifted around him a small rocky coastline was revealed before it disappeared from sight, rounding the curve of the island.

Reaching the rocks and the end of the sandy beach, he turned back toward the activity at the cave entrance. The sonar equipment had been moved aside for safety while the additional men had set to work pulling the smaller rocks one by one from the debris pile and loading them onto a small conveyor belt to speed up the process. Evans was on the two way radio, and as he replaced it in his pocket he spied Aram and went jogging up the sand to meet him.

"I need to go again, Sir," Aram told Cooper, "I'll report in when I know more."

"Glad you're there on scene, Aram. You're doing an excellent job," said Cooper, then hung up, leaving Aram standing on the beach as a small surprised smile flashed across his features.

"Aram, we have to head out. We gotta run on a yachtsman in trouble. Once he's secure, we'll be back though. Don't worry, your friends are in good hands with these guys," he assured him, indicating the team of men removing the rubble. "And we will be back long before they break through," he added, seeing Aram's concern.

"Can I bring you anything?" he added

Aram shook his head. "Just good news. That's all I need, thanks."

Slapping Aram encouragingly on the upper arm, Evans turned and met Deeks and Shanks at the dinghy. He watched them pushed away from the beach as the sun rose above the horizon, lighting up the sand and cliff face with golden light. And as they zoomed across the water to the waiting response boat, Evans reached down and expertly retrieved the orange flotation ring.

"Be safe out there guys," Aram whispered, suddenly missing their expertise and companionship.

Above him, its job complete for the night the lighthouse lamp shut down, its beam slowly fading as it stopped rotating. And as Aram looked up at it, he realized that losing that continual rotating beam felt the loneliest of all.

###

Ressler woke up, feeling hot, sweaty and like his stomach had a small volcano erupting inside. As he opened his eyes, he turned his head to the side. Seeing Liz beside him, he raised his head a little to check on her in the soft light. Sweat ran into his eyes from his forehead and he quickly brushed it away before looking up at the two men sitting on either side of the tunnel.

"Donald, how are you doing?" asked Red. Ressler looked at him, grimaced as he tried to rise, sunk back down and replied. "Oh, I'm just… great."

Red chuckled, then rose and helped Ressler to his feet. Standing hunched over beside him, Red motioned to Conrad, who had now stood up and was collecting the pillows, notebook and water jars. "You two haven't been formally introduced. Special Agent Donald Ressler of the FBI. Former Medical Examiner for the city of Boston, and my friend, Conrad Lucas. Otherwise known as The Raven."

Attempting to wipe the dust and grime off his sweaty hand, then giving it up as a lost cause, Ressler shook the man's hand. "We've sorta met," said Conrad. Ressler nodded, and gave the man a small, exhausted smile.

Once he was sure Ressler wouldn't topple over, Red let him go and reached down to Liz, gently waking her. As she jumped, she looked at him in confusion, her eyes dark in the soft light of the tunnel.

"Welcome back Lizzie. We're going to move further down the tunnel. Come on, I've got you…" he told her, then scooped her up in his arms, holding her to him as she cried out in pain at the sudden movement on her back. "I know, I'll get you somewhere more comfortable," he reassured her as he followed Conrad down the tunnel.

As they walked away from the two small oil lamps, they rounded a bend in the tunnel that had gone unnoticed before. A soft glow was before them, and as they continued down it, the tunnel opened up as the ceiling rose to a good 20 feet above them. A limestone cave lay before them, approximately 40 feet square, sparsely furnished, with soft oil lamps illuminating the space. A second tunnel appeared on one side of the cave across from them, exiting further away from the ocean. On another wall, the trickle of water caught their attention as it ran down the smooth rock and pooling in a small depression before disappearing to a lower level under the cave.

But what got all their attention the most was on the far wall. Two computers, powered up with a large power cable snaking up the cave wall and exiting out of a tiny crevasse in the ceiling.

"It really is the bat cave," said Ressler, looking at the computers.

"You said you hacked into the Cabal database, now I see how you did that," said Red as he gently placed Liz on a comfortable couch.

"That lighthouse up there does more than warn passing boats. It supplies me with electricity. The cable comes down from the small electrical access building of the lighthouse, further back onshore. The amount I use is so negligible that no one would notice the additional draw on it. There's an antenna that snakes up through there too giving me access to satellite internet."

"Which no doubt, you also hack into," added Red. "I have a friend who would love to see this," he told Conrad thinking of Aram currently outside on the beach.

Ressler shrugged his jacket off, then hobbled over and sat down beside Liz, leaning back on the couch. "You okay?" he asked her.

She nodded, barely holding back tears. "We're still underground…I don't exactly like it under here."

He looked at her banged up and bruised cheeks and arms, visible even under the dust. "You'll be okay," he told her deliberately not saying 'we'll be okay' because right now, he wasn't sure he would be. But she knew that's exactly what he'd implied and as her tears spilled over he put his left arm around her and pulled her into him.

"You're hot," she told him, feeling the fever radiating off him.

He chuckled, "Well, I try. You know, eat healthy. Workout. Bring birthday dinners," he smiled, teasing her.

She grinned beside him. "I walked right into that one," she said, wiping her eyes.

From across the cave, Conrad watched as Ressler immediately helped Liz feel better despite how bad he obviously felt. "Beautiful inside as well as out," he said softly to Red.

Red smiled, "Oh, don't let him hear you say that. It wouldn't fit his macho image." He turned toward the rear exit of the cave. "So, how about you show me this tunnel system and see if we can find a way out of here."

Retrieving a backpack and two oil lamps that could be carried safely by a leather strap, Conrad headed to the rear tunnel. "There are a couple of cave-ins that we might be able to get around, after the experience with the beach tunnel," he told Red, handing him an oil lamp.

Red looked to Ressler and Liz on the couch. "We should be back soon, hopefully with good news on our situation here," Red told them.

"Yes, dad," Ressler replied.

Conrad looked back at Ressler and Liz, "Make yourselves at home. The water over there is safe to drink, you can wash up in it, and there is some food over there in that cupboard. Explore. I don't mind."

Ressler nodded to the man as Liz thanked him. His arm still around her, Ressler glanced at her. "I don't know about you, but I don't think I can even get off this couch, let alone explore," he told her softly as Red and Conrad headed for the far exit.

Conrad smiled as they made their way down the tunnel, their oil lamp chasing the darkness away in front of them. "So, you and your FBI are like some strange, dysfunctional family. Dad and the kids out camping," he said.

"Oh, you have no idea," chuckled Red, in full agreement.

###

Red was feeling more than a little frustrated. After venturing down two off shoots from the main tunnel, they'd reached the cave-ins on both of them. In an all too familiar sight, rocks, support beams and dirt lay blocking their way. They were old cave-ins though, individual rocks being almost melded together with their neighbors. Unlike the beach tunnel that was a fresh collapse, these rocks were slippery and reluctant to move apart. It would take pick axes and shovels, neither of which were in their possession.

"A dead end then, literally," sighed Red. "Damn."

"Well, there is another way, but I have not used it for so long because it's dangerous. I can show you though.

"Lead the way," Red prompted, and together they walked along the main tunnel. After a few minutes they took a turn to the right, and as they walked down the dark, musty tunnel, Red held the oil lamp up, examining the sagging ceiling.

"Who built these things?" he asked Conrad.

"Moonshiners for the most part. They stored their home made booze down here out of the sun and out of the eyes of the law. I'm amazed the whole lot hasn't come down by now, to be honest. I don't come this way much."

Red walked by his side, down the sandy floored tunnel, noting they were walking down a very slight incline now, as the sound of dripping water came from up ahead.

Conrad pointed to the sound. "That's the reason I said this tunnel was dangerous. See that? It floods. There's always some amount of water sitting in it, but when it rains, it becomes impassable."

Approaching the water, Red walked ahead to look at the large body of water sitting in the tunnel in front of them. For the most part it came about half way up the tunnel wall, rippling slightly as the ground water trickled into it. Shining the small flashlight further down the length of the tunnel, the water level rose to the point it was in contact with the ceiling.

"See what I mean? We can't get out this way."

Red leaned down taking his shoes off, and pulling off his socks, gauging the length of the water as he did so. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he dropped it into his shoe.

"What the hell are you doing? You can't go in that!"

"Most of it isn't to the ceiling. And the part that is, I can swim under and come out on the other side. I assume at some point the tunnel rises again, dropping the water level," he asked Conrad.

"You're crazy!"

Red looked at him evenly. "We need a way out. Understand? Does the tunnel rise fairly quickly on the other side or not?" he asked, stepping into the water and wading in up to his knees. He was going to do this with or without Conrad.

"Yes, it does! But wait." Swinging his backpack off his back, Conrad unzipped it and took out a large waterproof flashlight and tossed it to Red in the water up to his thighs now. "You'll need to be able to see under the water!"

Red caught the flashlight and shone it down the tunnel, picking up the dripping ceiling above the water. Wading further into the water, he approached waist height as the cold water encircled him, pulling at his legs as he walked through. The water level was rising as he walked and behind him, he could still hear Conrad calling out for him to reconsider. But he wasn't going to. Donald would die if they didn't find a way out. As the ceiling got lower, he approached the part that was completely underwater. Swimming now rather than wading, he ducked under and shone the flashlight further down. Visibility was fair, and coming up to the surface to take one more big breath he dropped down again and began to swim strongly through the tunnel. Time to put all that Navy training to work.

Behind him, Conrad sat down on the tunnel floor and groaned as the glow of the flashlight faded from view. He'd wait though, in case his stubborn friend made it back.

As Red swam through the tunnel, he estimated he'd swam underwater for about 20 feet when he saw the change in the water above him, indicating a water surface. Swimming a few more feet, the water level dropped a little. Not wanting to come up and hit his head on the tunnel roof, he rose slowly and poked his head out of the water. About 18 inches from the ceiling now, he took in a breath as the water lapped around his face, then shone the flashlight further down the tunnel. There was less water to traverse on this side as the tunnel took a slightly sharper incline. Swimming a few feet more he then waded and came out of the water on the far side. The tunnel floor was still sandy and he began walking to see how far they needed to go to get out of here as water poured off him.

He'd made it through with very little problem. But one thing was clear. There was no way Donald could make it through that in his condition. Which posed a dire problem for the agent who needed to get out of the cave. But a new plan was already forming in Red's mind as he walked on through the tunnel to see where it exited.

###

Back in the cave, Ressler and Liz rested as best they could. Ressler had moved further along the couch away from Liz simply because he was so sweaty. He had removed his long sleeve shirt, leaving his grey t-shirt hanging over his jeans. He didn't know what his temperature was. There was a first aid kit visible near the pseudo kitchen in the cave, but he didn't feel the need for numbers. He was hot. He had a fever. That was all he needed to know.

Liz was half laying on the long couch with her feet up almost touching Ressler's thigh. They didn't talk much. Each knew the other didn't feel too great, but they were there for each other. As he glanced at her, the bruises on her face were becoming more pronounced. He could barely imagine what her back and legs looked like.

"Ress…"

"Yeah?"

"They should have been back now, wouldn't you think?" she asked him, leaning back on the couch pillows.

"You know Red. He'll search thoroughly until he finds a way. He's kinda stubborn like that," he said with a soft smile.

"Right. I'm just worried… you really need to get out of here," she said, stating what they both knew to be true.

Ressler was about to answer that he was fine, and be lying through his teeth, when Red and Conrad entered the cave from the rear tunnel. The first thing they noticed was that Red's clothing was wet.

"What happened?" they asked in unison, turning to them as Red and Conrad stood in front of them. Conrad looked to Red, and waved his hand for him to tell them.

"Well, there is good news, and there is bad news," he told the two agents, looking to Ressler with an almost apologetic smile. Ressler caught it immediately and waited for the next part, already knowing he didn't want to hear it.

"What's the good news…?" Liz asked warily.

He smiled at her, touching her knee, "Lizzie, there is a way out."

As she lit up at that news, she saw the look in his eyes and her smile faded. "And what's the bad news…?"

"The bad news is that neither you nor Donald," he looked to him now, "are going to be able to exit through the way I found. Which means-"

Ressler interrupted him, shaking his head and grimacing. "Which means I'm not getting out of here soon. Which means, my appendix will burst. Which means, you wanna slice and dice me. Correct me if I'm wrong." Ressler leaned his head back on the couch and exhaled heavily. Part of him had known this could be a scenario.

"What?!" Liz looked at him horror. "Surely not? Red?"

Red was nodding, looking to them both. "Well, you're partly right Donald. Hear me out."

Behind him, Conrad was looking at the two agents. "Believe me, he spent the entire walk back going over the pros and cons of this. It's not a rush decision."

Ressler lifted his head back up, running his fingers through his sweaty, wet hair. "Oh, well that makes all the difference."

"When I said you couldn't get out, that doesn't mean someone else can't get in. What we need is to bring in a medic or doctor into our little cave down here. We have electricity. We have internet. If we can't get a doctor in person, we can have one online watching the surgery while we do it. He can be there remotely. We can get what we need from the medic for surgical tools-"

Ressler leaned forward, gripping the arm of the couch and rose unsteadily to his feet, clutching his belly. "Listen to yourself! The answer is no. You are NOT cutting into me down here!"

"Donald, your appendix-"

He glared at Red. "They'll get us out of here before it…" he glanced at Liz, "before I die."

Liz was looking up at him, seeing how obviously sick he was. "But what if they don't? What if they can't break through here in time? Aram said there is 15 feet of rocks they're digging through.

"Actually, it's a bigger issue than that. I called Aram on the walk back here, telling him we needed the medic or a doctor, and what the plan was, and-".

Ressler interrupted him again, "Thanks so much for including ME in your hair brained scheme," he panted, leaning over as a spasm of pain shook through him. Turning a little from them, he leaned forward, hands on his knees.

Red was watching him. "Donald, if there was any other way, we'd be taking it. Aram informed me they've come across a section about 4 feet into the tunnel that is basically one huge boulder. It's wedged in so tight they're having to literally drill through it or around it. It's going to take a lot longer. They estimate another 36 to 48 hours."

Conrad rose behind him. "It's true, I heard the conversation. Your man out there is a very excitable fellow, isn't he?"

"Donald, look at me."

Ressler ignored him, his gut on fire as he fought not to throw up again. It would not go well for his case.

Red looked at the agent, hunching over and sweating up a storm. "It's going to take them up to 48 hours to get in here. You have maybe 6 hours at most before your appendix ruptures. And after that, peritonitis will settle in so quick, you won't know what hit you."

On the couch, Liz gasped. "Ress, you have no choice!"

"I have a choice. And I say no," he gasped, reaching for the bowl as his stomach won this round.

Behind him, Liz looked at Red as Ressler threw up again. "Is there no other way?"

"We're out of time. And the longer we wait, the harder it will be to get through to the outside," he told them. "According to Aram, it has started raining outside. The water level in the flooded tunnel will start slowly rising."

Ressler lowered himself to the couch again, sitting back at Liz's feet. He looked sideways at her, flushed and sweating. "Do you want me to do this?"

She looked at him, "I don't see that you have a choice!"

"That's not what I asked, Liz," he panted. "Do YOU want me to do this?"

She understood now. And moving over to him with difficulty as her back screamed in pain, she reached out for his arm. "I do. As hard as it will be, yes, I do," she told him, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Ressler lay his head back on the couch again, closing his eyes and grimacing. After a moment, he opened his eyes, rolled his head slightly to the side and looked at Red.

"Then do it."