Here it comes. Next chapter and it will actually be a two parter agaon:)

After the cliffy in the last chapter I will be nice to ya and not end this one with a big cliffhanger.:)

I am actually a bit nervous about this chapter, becausse there is a lot of talking and you know me and dialogues...I am more the angst writer;) But I hope it is not too bad and everything makes kind of sense(well not everything yet;))

Thank you all so much for the reviews! I felt soooo happy every time I've read one!

Now I wish ya a lot of fun with the chapter:)

Disclaimer: Blacklist is not mine(for details, see prologue)


The Survival of the Fittest Mind 1

The beating of his heart was fast. Almost like a drum being played at a rock concert. He saw her storm out of the building, covered in blood and obviously not knowing where exactlyto go. This was his chance. The perfect moment to let her know who would give her the freedom back. Slowly walking up to her, he positioned himself directly in front of her and smiled.

"Welcome home." He whispered and was pleased to see recognition in her eyes.

"Angel…"

"Yes my child. I have waited for you. We have waited for you. Finally the time has come and you will join our family." He held out his hand to her. "Come. I will give you the freedom you deserve."

Like in a daze, she raised her arm and grasped his hand with hers. The fresh blood on her hand made a squashing sound when he tightened his hold and tugged on it.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Argh…" the yell rang through the room and bounced back from the walls. "Get me a damn towel or something." Red squeezed the words out through his white lips and tightly ground together teeth.

The activity around him was only a blur, but he could identify Dr. Flemming's lab coat flailing right beside him and Dembe kneeling on the other side.

"Follow her." He ground out, clutching at his thigh.

"Raymond…"

"The bullet went through." He gasped when he tried to turn to his friend. "She knew what she was doing."

"Yes…she was shooting you! She wanted to KILL you." Dembe raised his voice, holding one hand against the bullet hole in Red's leg..

"No…" Red breathed, clenching his hand around a piece of wood to keep from screeming. "Her brain…doesn't want to kill. She wanted to go somewhere. Go to someone." Again, a gasp and then Red's hand pulled Dembe's away from the wound. "If she wanted to kill me…you'd be able to study rigor mortis on me already. Go. I will follow."

Dembe shook his head but did what he was told. He had learned a long time ago that it was better to listen to Red. Most of the time he was right anyway.

Red let himself fall back against the carped on the floor and moaned silently. Lizzie had once asked him how he had been able to just walk away from the bullet wound that he received in the shooting with Tom. He had told her, with an arrogant smile on his face, that after years in this business he was already used to those occurrences. Now he had to admit, that it had been quiet a while ago since he had suffered from a real bullet wound and he was sure now that he was getting too old for this, because the last time this happened…well…he had it differently in memory of it.

His musing were cut short by a nervous Dr. Flemming, pressing a towel against the wound and his own groan.

"Thank you…doctor." he grinned with a grimace on his face. "You may call Dr. May now. I believe you remember the number."

Meanwhile Dembe sprinted out of the building, looking right and left. Not seeing Liz anywhere, he ran to the car and immediately opened the tracking program on his notebook.

The red dot, symbolizing Liz' position, was moving fast out of town. Judging from the speed, Liz must be sitting in a car.

Without hesitation, Dembe started the car and sped off.

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Liz' mind was working almost as fast as the motor of the car she was sitting in. The scenery was blurring by and her thoughts felt just the same.

The man beside her was silent, concentrating on the road. His tall form slightly bent forward and his full hair falling into his eyes.

She felt cramped in this little car. She wanted to be able to expand her arms and run as fast and as far as she wanted. Free from all the restrains life had laid on her from a very young age. One hand was still clutching the gun and the other hand was cramping into a fist every few seconds.

The voice in her head had promised a family. Freedom. Right now, there was nothing of that anywhere to be seen. As sure as she had been that she needed to follow the urge to find her new family and the Angel, now she wasn't sure anymore. It wasn't enough, It wasn't right. A pothole in the street, shook her body and suddenly something clicked into place.

The pain, that had still echoed in her head was gone. She was feeling reborn and it seemed that her mind has been never as clear as now.

"You can stop the car." She told the man. The surprised look on his face was almost funny. But only almost. Free from any baggage and distracting emotions, she wasn't thinking in terms of fear, happiness and love, only in terms of logic and probabilities. And she could remember everything.

"Stop the car? You are going to meet your new family."

"I profiled you. I know what you are doing." Her tone was calm and cold. "You are claiming to rescue those people from their confinement of school, work or demanding familes, but instead you are imprisoning them in their own mind. "

"I give them everything they need. They can do what they want."

"They can do what they want, limited to their own brains, with no goals." She explained nonchalantly. "Even the smartest human brain needs a goal in live." Her gaze traveled to his. "Without a goal, you are practically killing them, Frederick."

"What?...What are you talking about?" he was beginning to get nervous. She wasn't supposed to say those things.

"I am talking about the wrong turn your plan has made somewhere along the way."

Liz' cold smile was having a nerve wrecking effect on Frederick.

"You don't know anything! You are only here because I MADE you come here."

"I am here because I have a high enough IQ to draw your attention." The last word had almost stuck in her throat. She felt once again a slight pressure in her head. A lump in her throat materialized suddenly and she felt the focus of her thoughts waver. Inhaling deeply twice, she felt the concentration come back and she dared to speak again.

"Where are we going?" she asked. The question how was still swirling in her mind and she wanted to get the answer to it, but she knew that he wouldn't tell her willingly.

"Home."

"Where is home?"

"Somewhere nice."

"Where is somewhere nice?"

"Not far away anymore."

"So…" she grinned. "Since we are still in Washington and I presume you need a lot of space for a big family, I guess it has to be quiet a big building. I would say just on the outskirts of the city. Not too far away from supplies but not too near so that no suspicion can arise." She paused and rubbed her temple. "You own a cottage next to the Piscataway Park. It wasn't big enough a few years ago, but judging by the calluses on your hands you have been renovating…or…expending?"

"You are very intelligent." he praised and smiled, through his frustration.

"Yes, I am." She answered, gazing at him and taking in his reactions. "Stop the car." She suddenly added.

"No."

"You say you want freedom for intelligent people? Why don't you let them have their own free will? Maybe they would stay anyway? Or maybe they would go another way."

"They are my family." He growled.

"No…they are prisoners of your personal understanding of the word family."

The car drove on unsteadily, swerving from right to left.

"Concentrate on the road, Frederick." Liz told him and leisurely, looked at the gun in her hand.

"I don't understand what happened. You are supposed to…" Frederick started, but stopped immediately when he turned to Liz and found himself looking into a gun barrel.

"What…What's that?"

"A gun."

The car made a turn to the right and stopped on the grass next to the street. Liz threw open the door, still pointing the gun at Fredericks face and slowly got out of the car.

"For a man who has an IQ higher than the average person, you came fairly unprepared."

xxxxxxxxxx

"She stopped." Dembe hissed at the microphone connected to his cell phone, trying to concentrate on the traffic in front of him, the phone in the phone holder and the red dot on his notebook at once.

"Well, what is she doing?" Red's strained voice came over the speakers.

"How should I know? I only see the dot and the traffic is just…damn."

Dembe had to break behind a "Sunday driver" and cursed once again when he didn't find an adequate space to pass him.

"Dembe? Did you find her?"

Dembe groaned, pressing his lips into a thin line.

"Shouldn't you be in an ambulance, Raymond?"

"I AM in an ambulance."

Dembe groaned and rolled his eyes. Passing the annoying driver in front of him, Dembe finally was able to take a short cut to the road Liz was on.

"I will call you when I found her."

"No…wait."

"You are distracting me, Raymond!"
"Alright, alright. I think this nice male nurse here wants to play doctor with me anyway." Under the joking tone, Dembe could clearly detect the tension in his voice.

"I will bring her back, my brother."

The silence was short lived.

"I know. I trust you."

And the connection was severed.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Get out of the car, Frederick."

A mild breeze was ruffling Liz' face and Frederick had to admit that she wasn't only intelligent but also a beauty. A rare thing to find in his opinion. His taste in women was special and it was hard to find someone who seemed adequate.

"Get in the car." He countered.

Liz smiled at him.

"You seem not to understand the situation here. " not letting the gun drop even an inch, she walked a few steps nearer. "I KNOW where the students are and I KNOW that you are the one who orchestrated this whole mess. Now it is very important for you to understand, that I don't need you anymore. And I won't have any problem with shooting you. Now, get out."

Cautiously, Frederick stepped out and came around the car.

"Now." Liz smirked at him. "Open the trunk and get the first aid kit out."

She walked over to him, situating herself behind him, so that she could see what he was doing. Seeing the first aid kit in his hands, she reached around him and snatched it from him.

"Don't turn around."

Leaning the edge of the box against her stomach, she opened it and with one hand took out two rolls of bandages. The box hit the ground with a metallic thud and Liz stepped up to Frederick, putting her lips right next to his ear.

"Spread your legs, keep your back to me and stretch your arms behind your back." She whispered, still smiling. To her actual surprise he did as he was told and she opened one of the rolls, starting to tie his wrists together with the bandage.

"You know, Frederick, when my brain was still clouded with emotions I was scared of you. I didn't know how you were luring those kids in and you had a mystique about you that made my skin crawl. The only thing making my skin crawl now is your smell. I guess you forgot to install a shower in your cottage?"

Before Frederick could say something, Liz shushed him.

"No, no, no…I am talking now. I guess I do have to thank you for clearing my mind, though. I guess my brain didn't react like the others, did it? I don't know HOW you brainwashed us but it seems that my brain found a way to break out of the control and evolve into something…more practical." She cleared her throat and looked down to examine the knot she had made. Slowly she crouched down and started the same process on his ankles.

"The interesting thing is that it's always those supposedly smart ones that make the biggest mistakes."

"I am only waiting for yours." Frederick sneered at her.

"You see, I am not supposedly smart. You wanted so damn hard to be intelligent that you actually forgot that there are people smarter than you out there."

"I have never forgotten that. The people around me never LET me forget it."

"And having them under your thumb, controlling them was your way of revenge. Of feeling finally equal."

"It never has been about revenge." He yelled, feeling tears gather in his eyes.

Liz smiled. So smart, but so emotional. Emotions made everyone break…sooner or later.
"It was about learning from them. Learning from you, how to become more intelligent." It was almost a sob, that came out of his throat. "Giving you the freedom to not be…controlled."

Liz straightened and turned him around by his shoulder.

"You can't learn to be intelligent, Frederick. Everyone is unique in his own way and everyone has a purpose in life, no matter how intelligent he or she is. And I think YOU are intelligent enough to see the similarities between your plan and the things you want to free us from."

tbc...


Oh my...I am scared but let me know what you think!Please...good and bad! I wanna know:)