Chapter Seven: Dearly Departed

It was more of a ceremony than a funeral, and even that was dangerous with the way things stood. The formal inquiry may have been upended when Ressler had sacrificed the evidence that he and Reddington had uncovered about Reven Wright's murder and Laurel Hitchin had shut it down with a wave of her hand, the power of the White House and the Cabal combined. Though after everything Liz wasn't sure where one started and the other ended at times sometimes.

Just because the formal inquiry had been disbanded, just because Aram had been released and cleared, and just because - at least for the moment - the Task Force stood as free men and women to continue the work that they'd put their very souls into for the last four, bordering on five, years didn't mean that Julian Gale was backing down. His presence still lingered, looming like a shadow with his eighty-six bodies and the determination of a wolf that had latched onto its prey. Cynthia Panabaker had dropped by the Post Office to tell Cooper that she wasn't sure how they'd managed it - and that she didn't want to know - but that they needed to watch their steps. They did good work, but this wasn't over, and she couldn't - or wouldn't - protect them. Liz was more inclined to think the latter was more accurate.

If Reddington had had an actual funeral for Baz, she wasn't certain. She imagined that there had been something private. Very private, as most of his closer allies were either also dead, in jail, or just gone. He'd mentioned that Brimley had bowed out after nearly two decades of working with him, and she knew that Kate had done a number on his organization. Illiquid had been the term he'd used, but broke seemed more applicable, especially when she saw him that morning.

Liz held onto Tom's arm, mentally cursing the heels in the soft grass as they sank down and threatened to throw her off balance. She caught sight of the man she'd only recently confirmed was her father. He stood at the top of the hill under a tree, his hat in his hands, and Dembe stood with him.

"Agent Keen. Tom," a voice called in a hushed sort of tone and she turned, spotting Aram waving awkwardly, Samar walking with him.

"Hey. I didn't know you were going to make it. Either of you," Liz said, quickly adding, "but it's good to see you."

"I didn't know him well, but Baz seemed like a good man," Samar offered. Her dark eyes flickered to Tom. "I see you made it home."

"I did. To stay."

"Is that good or bad?"

His thin lips pressed together. "It's complicated."

"Did you meet Baz, Aram?" Liz asked, changing the subject as quickly as she could off of her husband's stressful family situation. They had enough on their shoulders that morning without Howard, Scottie, and Halcyon being brought into the conversation.

"I did," Aram answered, "when you were, uh, well when we were trying to clear your name. He was helping Mr Reddington and Mr…. Kaplan." He half swallowed Kate Kaplan's name, his expression a bit startled as if he hadn't caught himself until after he'd already mentioned her. He swallowed hard. "When we were setting everything up to help clear your name," he amended quickly.

A short, awkward silence fell over the group of four people and after a moment Samar cleared her throat. "We shouldn't keep Reddington waiting."

Aram mumbled something under his breath, stumbling over the words, and if Liz didn't know better she would have thought he offered his arm to Samar for the hill. She turned an amused look on him, as if there was some secret between them that Liz and Tom were not privy to, and said that she was fine to make it up without help. She'd actually worn heels that didn't dig deep into the grass as she walked, unlike Liz's, and the shorter woman was tempted to just tug hers off and scale the small hill barefooted.

"So how long has that been going on?" Tom asked very quietly as Samar and Aram inched just a little bit ahead.

"What?"

"Those two? I thought Aram was dating what's her name that worked for the Thrushes."

Liz blinked owlishly at him. "I think that ended when she gave his name up to the investigation, but… I don't think…" She watched her two friends and the way that they were speaking quietly to each other as they walked. It was subtle. Very subtle, but there was a difference. It was one that had crept up quietly and she hoped that that was the reason Tom had picked up on it when she hadn't. Being away for a while and coming back in reset perspective in many cases. If that wasn't it, then she was losing her edge, and that wouldn't do her any good at all.

"You work with them," he murmured, as if reading her mind. "You've always had some trouble with people you're close to."

She elbowed him a little harder than she meant to, pulling a soft oomf from him and she gave him a look that she thought was probably somewhere halfway between an apology and a teasing smile at him for it. He wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean she had to agree outright with it.

Donald Ressler was approaching from the opposite side, sullen and grim looking even for the situation they found themselves in. Liz was a little surprised to see him at all. He'd kept to himself the last several days, and she assumed that he'd been taking the time to come to terms with the new line he'd crossed to protect the Task Force. She knew it'd been a big step for him, but she also knew how hard it had been. She had done her best not to push, letting him know that if he needed to talk, she was there, but he'd waved it off every time. She had thought that he would have stayed home for this, but despite his best efforts she thought that there was a respect that Ressler had developed for Reddington over the years that the Task Force had worked with him and that that was what drew him there that morning. He still loathed his methods, but Ressler was under no disillusionment that they would have been able to save many people as they had if they hadn't had Reddington's help.

She offered him a tight smile and he nodded in return, not even managing that much.

Liz pulled in a deep breath, satisfied when Aram moved immediately to their fair haired friend and dragged him into the conversation. She finally released her husband's arm. "Give me a minute?"

"Take your time," he answered softly and started over towards their daughter's godparents.

She pulled in a deep breath, calming herself. She'd been fluctuating wildly under all the different emotions that came with what had happened. Baz's death, Kate's death, finding out that Red was her father, and finding out that he was keeping yet another secret from her that Kate had left with her husband. It was a mess. Her life was constantly a mess.

Today, though, she wanted to put it all aside. Aram had been right. Baz was a good man and he deserved the respect of their gathering. She would do the best she could to withhold judgement on Reddington until she knew the whole story. Maybe it wasn't as bad as her imagination had come up with.

"Elizabeth," he greeted, glancing over as she approached.

"Hey. We're not late, are we?"

"No. Dembe and I just arrived a little early. I wanted some time." He closed his eyes and Liz saw his fingers tighten around the brim of his hat in his hands. "I knew Baz many years. We'd seen a lot together."

Liz felt her chest tighten at his expression and she reached out, her finger tips touching the fabric of his jacket. "I'm so sorry, Reddington. A death is difficult enough, but the way it happened… I'm sorry."

"Yes," he murmured. He shook his head, almost as if he were shaking off the emotions that were threatening to bubble out into view of everyone there. "I'm glad you made it. Baz would have wanted you here."

Liz nodded, not trusting her own voice. What was there to say? She'd been there, willingly in the car with Kate Kaplan when Baz and Reddington's people had run them off the road thinking that they were saving her. It wasn't her fault. She'd chosen to get out, to choose Red as Kate had put it, and she hadn't thought for an instant that the older woman would have intentionally killed Baz. Yes, she'd hurt many people that Reddington cared about, but she had known Baz. Injuring him, making sure he ended up in prison, those things Liz could have seen happening with the person Kate Kaplan had become, but killing him outright? She hadn't predicted that. She also hadn't predicted that the woman would have thrown herself over the side of the bridge to her death, so maybe Tom was right. When things were very, very close to home, her own readings weren't always as accurate as she would have liked to believe.

She cleared her throat. "I don't think Cooper is going to make it, so unless you're waiting on others we should probably get started."

"Afraid Agent Gale is going to pop out from behind the tree?" Reddington asked, obviously trying for a tease and Liz gave him her best attempt at a smile.

"With our luck lately, he might just do it."

Reddington nodded, and cleared his throat, calling everyone's attention. He spoke in the way that only Raymond Reddington spoke, weaving stories so vivid that Liz could see them dancing across her imagination. A time when they were caught under heavy fire in a deal gone wrong and a celebration after a deal gone better than expected. He spoke of their years together, of Baz then and the Baz that they had known. He was a valued member of his team, a former Special Forces member, and a dedicated friend. Liz's eyes closed as she listened, leaning into Tom's shoulder and she felt him shift to put an arm around her, supporting her where she stood next to him. Every detailed played out from Reddington's voice to her mind, and she saw that little smirk that Baz gave so clearly.

Dembe spoke next, his voice soft and slow as he remembered a man that he had, Liz realized in that moment, been exceptionally close to. There had been a time when he had gone back to the South Sudan to help his countrymen fight for freedom and they'd come across more trouble than they'd expected. Dembe, to that day, didn't know how Baz had heard about it, but he'd reached out to him to offer his support in that moment. It hadn't been his fight, it hadn't been his people, but Dembe had been his friend and in so many ways his family, and what had been important to the younger man was important to Baz.

Liz swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes closed and she felt a tear escape. "I, uh… I had about decided that I wasn't going to say anything, but…." She pulled in a deep breath, steadying herself, and opened her eyes again, trying to pull together what she felt about the man that had made Dembe look chatty. The thought made her smile, despite the situation, and she shook her head. "Baz was our protector. He was always there just when I needed him, even if I didn't think I did." A laugh escaped her - "I just about set the kitchen on fire one time trying to cook something. Baz was across the hall, watching for whatever terrible thing would drop on our heads next, and he came flying into the apartment with his gun drawn and ready to take on whatever danger there was. I yelled at him. I was so… upset at being watched and being shadowed every step that I took - at having been shadowed for so long by so many people - that I took it all out on him in that moment, yelling at him to get out, but Baz never held it against me. He was silent and he was steady, ready to face down anything. I've seen a lot of brave men and women - a lot of them standing right here - and Baz… I didn't think we'd lose him so soon."

She sniffed hard and Tom wrapped her up, pulling her close. She let him, and by the end of it she gave up trying not to cry. Baz was more than Reddington's man, more than their protector. He was her friend, and that day, for just a moment, she let herself mourn him without all the complications that came with it.


After everyone had said their piece Tom had stepped aside to give Liz a moment alone to say her private goodbyes. The intent had been to step over with the rest of the crowd, but he found himself a few yards further than that at a lonely and fresh grave under a tree. The stone at the head was just as new as Baz's and the lettering on it was unexpected.

"You buried Mr Kaplan here," he acknowledged, hearing the quiet steps approaching from behind. He didn't need to turn to see who they belonged to.

Reddington stepped up to stand next to him and he looked tired. More than, he thought as he studied the older man from the corner of his eye, and from what Liz had said about everything Kaplan had done to his organization there was no question as to why. People that functioned in the world that Reddington did - the world Tom never seemed to be able to quite leave - needed to be in control to stay on top. Let that control slip and the sharks came in to finish you off. Tom knew how it worked. He'd lived it more years than he hadn't, and if Reddington's organization was in as many pieces as Liz seemed to think it was then the Concierge of Crime was in a lot of trouble.

Reddington nodded. "Yes. Despite everything that happened at the end Kate was… a friend."

Tom resisted the urge to snort at the statement. Friend. The man had put a bullet through her head when he disagreed with the direction she'd taken to try to help Liz. If he hadn't nearly been on the receiving end of a bullet from a man that he'd given all of his loyalty to for one perceived slight, he might have understood where Reddington was coming from a little better.

"Problem, Tom?"

He closed his eyes and re-opened them, the action somewhere between a blink and not. He turned to watch Reddington, his expression even and the older man gave a mirthless chuckle as he shook his head.

"Liz told me about the DNA test," Tom said, his voice sharper than it might have been if he hadn't been trying to bring it under control.

Reddington tilted his head ever so slightly. "Of course she did."

"I had a pretty good idea," the younger man said. He forced himself to meet Reddington's gaze. "Listen, I know you and I haven't always seen eye to eye, but I do think we both love Liz and want her to be happy and safe."

"That's all I've ever wanted."

"As much as Liz has been shoved into this world, as much as it's part of who she is, she wasn't raised deep in it. She… needs honestly from the people closest to her. Even if it doesn't seem like anything changed between the two of you, she knows now, and if you're still hiding anything from her-"

"Where is this coming from, Tom?"

He rolled his eyes a little. "I just know how these things go, and I know how Liz is. You're going to think that you can get away with keeping things from her because you always have, and maybe you could have done that when she didn't know for sure you were her father, but it's out now, and she deserves honesty from you."

"Amusing coming from you."

"I learned the hard way. I had to watch her walk away before I figured it out. I love her. I don't want to see her have to go through that with you if she doesn't have to, but she will. You screw around with her and she will." He was bordering dangerously close, he knew, but there were enough secrets in their world that he could have been talking about anything. There was a good chance that he was referring to more than the bones. Reddington had plenty of secrets.

There must have been something in his tone though. Slowly Reddington's eyes widened and then his gaze darkened just a little. "Kate reached out to you."

"I haven't talked to her since the day you delivered me to that safehouse after Agnes had been taken and drove off with her."

He hadn't expected Reddington to reach out, his hand grasping his shoulder. It wasn't quite threatening, but the older man held him firm, as if he thought he might try to squirm away. "It makes sense. She needed someone that wasn't afraid to go against me. Someone who would sympathize with her."

"What do you-"

"The suitcase."

"I don't know what-"

He tried to shift away, but the grip on him only tightened and Reddington's voice was low and dangerous. "Don't you dare lie to me, Tom. This isn't a game. You have no idea what you've stepped into. What have you done with the suitcase that Kate gave you?"

Tom closed his eyes briefly, pulling in a breath, and when he re-opened them he leveled a dangerous glare in return. "You want to avoid losing her over whatever secrets you have, don't pin the blame on me. Tell her before it's too late." He pulled away, finally breaking Reddington's grasp, and he turned to stalk down the hill.


He'd been quiet after his talk with Reddington, refusing to say anything about it while they were at the gravesite. Liz hadn't pushed him on it, but as she closed the door behind Carly back at their apartment, Agnes down for her nap and her husband brooding irritably, Liz cleared her throat. "You going to tell me what happened?"

"Your dad's an ass."

Despite the heaviness of everything that had happened that day, Liz snorted a laugh. "That's not news," she murmured and took a seat next to him on the couch. She scooted a little closer when he didn't react, and while he didn't move away, he didn't welcome her as he usually did. Instead he was shut off, upset, and internalizing everything. She nudged him gently. "Talk to me?"

He loosed a breath, slouching back and letting his head fall against the back of the couch. "He knows I have the suitcase."

Liz blinked. "How?"

"He put it together. Maybe I'm losing my touch."

"Reddington is one of the best at reading people, and he knows you pretty well now. He can't get to it, right?"

"No."

"That's good then." She reached over, taking his hand and she laced her fingers through his. Slowly his long fingers curled around, holding onto her. "What brought it up?"

He winced, looking a little guilty. "I was… We were talking about how you wished that he would be honest the other day and I…. I thought maybe having learned the lesson the hard way I might be able to talk to him about it.."

Liz pursed her lips together, holding back her immediate response. It was sweet, she knew, even if it hadn't panned out the way he had meant for it to. "Honey, he's not you."

"You said-"

"Oh babe. I didn't mean for you to go try to do that."

He looked a little sheepish at that. "I know."

She hated when he looked like a kicked puppy, like one wrong step would land him shut out and at odds with her. He'd been trying to help her and it'd blown up spectacularly in his face. She wrapped her arm around his back and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "I love you," she reminded him. "And Kaplan made the right choice."

"What do you mean?"

"Even when it's… misplaced, you always try to watch out for me. She knew that you wouldn't be afraid to do something that would piss Reddington off."

Tom chuckled softly and she tightened her grip on him, one arm wrapped around and the other hand holding his. They sat there in silence. None of this was easy and the path was anything but clear, but they were in it together, and even if no one else did, they had each other's backs.


Notes: Sometimes chapters stay relatively intact with just a few minor adjustments when I go back through them for edits and sometimes they're like this one... things are moved, scrapped, and reworked like crazy.

I'm still really sad that Bokenkamp said that Baz was dead. I really do hope that they give him some sort of send off next season, because that man was impossible to kill and then suddenly he's dead? He was the one I wasn't worried about. Sad times. I may not be over this death for a while...

Next time - Nez and Solomon put a plan into action, Whitehall brings concerns to Howard, and the Keens get an unexpected visitor at their home late at night.