Chapter Ten

"Have you lost your mind?"

Scottie half rolled her eyes as she looked back at him. "Don't be so dramatic, Howard. You and I both know he's pushing himself too hard to get out. Agnes is a distraction for him and she makes him happy."

The scowl he had fixed her with didn't fade. "If she were younger or if you'd done this before she'd gone to stay with Liz-"

"The opportunity wasn't available before Liz took her. You made sure of that with Reddington."

He snorted and she smirked. "She's going to be the reason he finds out."

Scottie didn't dignify that with a response. She knew the risks, but so far the benefits had outweighed those. Agnes was settling in, Tom was soaking up his time with her, and if she did say something that tipped him off they would handle it. Surely they could handle that.

"You should go see her. Tom would love that." Howard looked over her and Scottie saw a strange look pass just behind his usual guarded expression. It sparked a memory from many years before and she found herself smiling. "You'll be better with her than you think."

She watched that expression close off again and she knew she had pegged him. Scottie kept her own expression softer. There was no reason to antagonize him here, no matter how easy it would be.

After a long moment she saw his shoulders droop and his eyes flickered to catch hers. "Don't go behind my back on something like this again," he said as he stood.

Scottie didn't answer as he started out of the room. She wouldn't make that promise to him any sooner than he would make it to her. They were on the same side in a way, and still working against each other in so many others. If he was truly worried about Agnes driving Tom to do something foolish or if he was just worried that Scottie's actions would sway their son more in her favour, there was no way to be entirely sure. Maybe it was even a little bit of both. In all the years she had known the man, he had never had a single, straightforward reason for his actions. Why would he start now?


"You remember where you got your puppy?" Tom asked, motioning to the stuffed dog and pulling his daughter's attention to him. He waited for a moment as she thought, her little nose scrunching up as she looked for the memory and he couldn't help but smile at the expression.

"I've had it since I was little," she said at last.

Tom's smile grew just a little more. "I brought that home for you from New York for your first birthday."

He watched her eyes widen. "Really?"

"Yep."

"He's my favourite."

"I've noticed," he chuckled. "You haven't gone anywhere without him."

Agnes shook her head, her dark hair flying in one direction and then the other. "Puppy goes everywhere." She turned to the stuffed dog thoughtfully before holding him up to her daddy and pressing the little black nose against his arm. "He likes you," she told him very matter-of-factly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She ducked her head shyly. "Me too."

"Tell you a secret, kiddo?" Tom whispered and that pulled a smile as she nodded.

"I like secrets."

He leaned in from where he was seated with her on the floor, bumping her shoulder very lightly. "I like you too."

The small smile broadened and she actually giggled for him. "That's not a secret!"

Tom feigned surprise. "Really? I thought I was keeping it pretty well," he laughed and winked at her. "Maybe you're just really good at guessing secrets, you think of that?"

"She'd come by it naturally enough."

Both Keens looked over to the entry to the room that they were in to see Howard lingering at the door. He'd been at the base for days now, but he hadn't put himself anywhere around Agnes. Tom hadn't known what to make of it, but seeing his hesitation now he couldn't help but think of the conversation they had had weeks before about not being good at this. He didn't know how to react around her, so he'd simply removed himself from the complication that Scottie had added to their situation.

But he was there. Maybe even willing to try.

Agnes immediately scooted around to sit closer to her daddy and Tom pulled her in. "It's alright. That's your grandpa."

"No it's not. My grandpa wears a hat."

Tom snorted a laugh as he shifted to stand. "You've got two grandpas," he explained.

Agnes did not look convinced as she watched Howard. Finally sure turned back to Tom and stuck her hands in the air in a clear sign that she wanted to be held. Tom ignored his father's immediate protest as he leaned down to carefully scoop the little girl up. He felt the pull, but managed to get her situated with only a little discomfort. "C'mon, Howard. You really think I'm not going to hold my kid."

Howard looked like he swallowed his argument and Tom flashed a grin as he inched closer, Agnes wrapping her arms around his neck a little tighter and burying her face in his shoulder stubbornly. "Don't take it personally. This is the closest she's wanted to be to me since she got here."

"You used to do the same thing when you were her age," Howard murmured, his gaze a little distant. "You weren't overly fond of strangers."

Agnes peeked at that. "When Daddy was little?"

Howard hummed a soft affirmative.

"When?"

"Oh…. it's been thirty years since he was your age."

Agnes scrunched her nose up as she considered that. "That's a really long time."

"I guess it is."

Tom huffed a laugh and kissed the side of her head. "Thanks, kid."

She shifted her free hand - the other still latched to her puppy - to hold onto a handful of his t-shirt to ensure her balance as she turned to look at Howard. "Tell me a story?"

That seemed to catch Howard off guard a little. "What kind of story?"

"About Daddy. Like the stories Grandpa Red told 'bout Mama."

"Oh." His gaze shifted to Tom like he expected the younger man to help him out.

Tom offered a half shrug. "I have exactly zero memories before about five years old. Not going to be any help on that one."

Howard loosed a breath and shifted his weight from one foot to another, his expression thoughtful as he searched for a story that would meet Agnes' standards, which might be pretty high if she had spent her time hearing stories woven together by her maternal grandfather. Finally, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I used to travel a lot for work," he told her slowly, "so I was gone a lot."

"Did you miss Daddy?"

"I did," Howard said softly. "This was before smartphones and video chat, so I couldn't even see him."

"Me either," Agnes said seriously. "I haven't seen him since I was little."

Tom tightened his hold on her and she leaned into him, listening to the story.

"One trip I was gone for two weeks when it was only supposed to be one. By the last day, your daddy was so upset with me he wouldn't get on the phone to talk to me. When I got home he wouldn't come see me."

"That's mean, Daddy," Agnes told him and Tom huffed a short laugh.

Howard's gaze flickered to Tom, even though he was still speaking to Agnes. "Your grandma told me to go check my office, so I put my bags down, went upstairs, and guess what I found there."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah. Your daddy had heard that I was helping to build something for our military, so he made my whole office into a fort and told me that I didn't have to go away again. He had built it for me."

"Was that what they wanted you to build?" Agnes asked and Howard chuckled at that.

"No, but I think he built something better."

Tom stared at his father, wishing his mind would pull the memories from whatever forgotten corner they were stored in, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't recall the time that Howard was describing. He wanted to. He wanted to remember loving his father so much that he would have done anything to keep him home with them. He wanted to remember looking up to him and being happy with both of his parents before everything had fallen apart in his own childhood. Before Frank and Eva, before Bud and St Regis.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby girl?" Tom answered, his daughter's voice pulling him from his thoughts.

"I wanna build a fort with you and Grandpa."

"I think we can manage that. What do you think, Howard?"

"I think that the little princess has spoken."

Agnes cheered and squirmed down from her father's arms, ready and willing to direct the fort building. The three of them worked together to put it up in what had turned into Agnes' playroom, Tom and Howard switching to go on runs for more blankets and to scrounge up a few more chairs to drape them over. It felt good to focus on something other than the endless journey to get his health back up to speed. For just a few hours his daughter was his only focus, the looming dangers on the horizon pushed just a little.

By the time they broke for dinner, came back, and finished, Agnes was wiped out, and before Tom knew it he was agreeing to stay the night in the newly constructed fort. As they got settled Agnes nestled in close to her daddy's side with her favourite stuffed dog between them and one hand latched onto his t-shirt like nothing could pry her off. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"I like the fort."

The smile tugged wide and Tom let his eyes drift shut. "Me too. We did a good job, huh?"

"Yeah…. Daddy?"

"Hmm?" he asked sleepily and felt her manage to inch closer still.

"You promise not to go away again?"

Dark blue eyes popped back open and he pulled in a steadying breath as he looked for the best way to answer. He didn't know how to explain that when her mom woke up that the two of them would have to finish what Garvey started over a year before, and that Agnes couldn't be there for that. They had to keep her safe.

"Daddy?"

He shifted onto his side so he could look Agnes in the eye. "There's going to be a day, maybe soon, when I have to go away for a little while to help your mom, but what I can promise you is that I'll come back. We both will."

She lay there in the shadows of the fort they had built, her expression far too somber for a three-year-old little girl. "But you'll come back?"

"I promise." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "We will never leave you forever, okay?"

"Okay."

He felt her relax against him and after a long moment he let his own eyes slip closed again.


Matias Solomon watched the docks carefully from his car. The sun had sunk down below the western sky hours before, and while there were lights along the stretch they still left more than a few dark corners for people to skulk in. He would know. Some of those people were his own.

Scottie had been firm on the idea that he would need backup for this meet. It was dangerous enough on its own, but with the lead to Garvey riding on it, it needed to be handled with the utmost care.

Solomon had had one condition for dealing with the backup that he was sure was more trouble than they were worth: Nez would be the only one to attend the meet with him. That hadn't been a hard sell on any side.

She tapped on the window and he reached to flick the locks so she could slide into the passenger seat. "No movement from one end to the other. You sure your lady's gonna show?"

"What? Missing babysitting the Keens already?"

She snorted. "Agnes is a little angel. So much better behaved than you."

He flashed her a grin. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

"True."

"So how is Keen holding?"

"Well he's still alive. I count that as a win." Her pale gaze slid over to look at him grin the corner of her eye. "I don't think you'll have to worry about him backing you in the field any time soon though."

"Still slow going?"

"Yeah, but with his kid there, he's laser focused on her. Not that that was an accident."

"The Hargraves manipulating a situation? Say it isn't so," Solomon drawled lightly.

"About the only thing that would break him from it would be Liz waking up."

The amusement washed out of him immediately, leaving him staring at Nez for half a beat. His mask of indifference didn't fall back in place quick enough, though, and she spotted the change. "What?"

He knew that tone. "Hmm?"

Her expression shifted from suspicion to realization. "She's awake, isn't she?"

Solomon purses his lips together a little. "Nez, I don't have to tell you that Scottie has a reason for keeping that from him. Howard too, most likely."

"That's his wife, Mattie. His family."

"And what would he do if he knew? Go running after her with half a plan and nowhere close to field-ready?" He took a deep breath, his dark eyes turning back to the docks. "What he does to himself and why he does it doesn't mean a damn thing to me, but Scottie…. she's soft on him."

"Yeah, real soft when she had you beat him half to death," Nez growled and Solomon snorted a laugh.

"My, doesn't that sound like Howard Hargrave? Scottie knew I was never going to kill the little bastard, and it was a matter of security." He stopped, thinking that he saw movement, before waving his hand as he spoke. "That's Scottie. She's an oddity in the world of espionage. Most of us can't separate business from personal. I don't have to tell you that's why people like us don't have people back home to worry their pretty heads over us. Our lives don't fit that, and when we try to make it fit we die. Just look at Keen. I guarantee he tried to play hero for his wife and if he hadn't had a father willing to toss the rule book out he'd be rotting six feet under. There'll be a day when his precious Liz or Agnes are in danger and mommy and daddy won't be there to catch him when he falls. That's the reality of our world."

The feed in his ear buzzed. "Sir, we've got movement on the south end."

"Showtime," Solomon answered with a grin, but his fingers paused on the door handle at the sound of Nez's question.

"There's never been a day you've wanted what he found?"

He paused for half a beat before replacing the truth with a lie. "No. Let's go. Can't keep Ms Zhou waiting."


The violence that he had seen growing up in St Regis had never really influenced his dreams at night. He could still recall going back to the hotel after a particularly bloody end to an operation and sleeping like a baby. It wasn't until he had met Liz that the nightmares really started creeping in. Not until he had something to lose.

He could remember a few over the years, always following major events. He had been overwhelmed by them every time he had closed his eyes in Dresden. This time wasn't quite as bad, but it was close. He found himself burning or drowning or covered in blood. The pain cut through, the memory of it sharp as the blade, and he would wake up gasping.

Tom couldn't pull himself out of this one though. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Everything hurt and all he could manage was to roll over to see the man bending over Liz, plastic stretched between his hands, and the way that she struggled weakly as he pressed it over her nose and mouth. Her name tumbled off his lips as he tried to get to his knees, collapsing against the carpet beneath him.

"I want you to watch this," Garvey said, suddenly right over his shoulder. "I want you to see what you've done."

"You did this," Tom managed, the words released on struggling breaths. He pressed his hand to his side and felt the blood pouring through his fingers. It hurt like hell, but he forced himself to look up. "I'm coming for you, and you're not getting out of it alive."

Garvey motioned. "You're not going to make it that far."

Tom turned, fear spiking as he saw Liz kick and fight and then go still very suddenly. "No," he breathed, and suddenly he was on his feet. The pain didn't matter. Nothing mattered except Liz.

He fell to his knees next to her, vision blurring, and pulled her up into his arms. "Liz? Lizzie, babe, open your eyes. Liz, please. Please." The panic built on itself with every still second that ticked by, folding in and over him, pulling him under. He reached a trembling hand out to her pale face, finding it colder than it should have beened. "I can't do this without you. You have to wake up…. Liz!"

"Daddy?"

The panic halted and he blinked at the voice. It wasn't Liz, she hadn't stirred in his arms, and Garvey and his thugs were gone. He knew the voice though. He knew that he knew it.

"Daddy? Daddy, wake up. Daddy?"

He blinked hard and Liz was gone. He was knelt down in the shambles of their home alone, the small voice breaking through the haze, and suddenly he was staring up and into a pair of wide, dark blue eyes that looked just like his own. Agnes looked worried until he forced as much of a smile as he could manage. "Hey."

She sat back. "You wouldn't wake up."

Tom pulled in as deep of a breath as he dared, desperately trying to steady himself for his daughter. "It's okay. Just a bad dream."

Agnes sat back on the floor, her gaze steady on him as if she were trying to figure something out. After a moment she moved, crawling so that she was curled up right next to him, her head nestled against his shoulder so that he could wrap a protective arm around her in return. "Mama has bad dreams too," she said quietly. "This makes them better. She told me so."

The words slammed into him and Tom struggled to stay where he was so that he wouldn't scare her. "When was that, Agnes?"

"Huh?"

"When did Mama tell you that?"

"Before Grandma came and got me."

"Baby girl, look at me," Tom coaxed softly. "This is important, okay?"

"'Kay," she answered sleepily, doing as he asked.

"Is your mom awake? Did she wake up?"

"Yeah," his little girl chirped. "She took a really long nap, but then she woke up."

Liz was awake. She was awake and Scottie hadn't said a damn thing. It was everything he could do to keep his voice steady. "Did Grandma tell her where you were going? That you were going to see me?"

She shrugged a little. "Dunno. She said it was a secret." She inched back down. "Daddy, I'm sleepy. Can we go to sleep?"

"Yeah," he managed, forcing himself to relax back on the pallet under their fort, shock giving way to a seething anger. They had left him to think that his wife was still comatose and left her to think that he was dead. At least Scottie, but probably Howard too. Maybe even Nez and Dumont. He couldn't be sure until he talked to them how deep the betrayal ran, but he would. First thing in the morning he would track his team down and he'd have answers. Then, as soon as he knew who he could trust, no one could keep him from going to his wife.


Notes: I felt like this story needed at least a short fluff break for Daddy Tom, Grandpa Howard, and fort building with Agnes. Agnes coming back into Tom's life was one of my major points for this show and I've hit one other I was really look forward to since, and the chapter that I'm currently working on should end with one I've been dying for since I started writing this story (three guesses what that is and the first two don't count ;) )

For those of you that follow my sneak peek gif sets on Tumblr, the dream was a bit more traumatic in the writing than the preview with the scenes I had to work with with it. I was really happy with that set over all though, because it seriously looked like Agnes was shaking him awake. Poor Tom's been through so much. All he wants to do is get his family back together and keep them safe.

Next Time: Tom confronts Nez about secrets kept and where to go from there while Liz gets used to her new life in Alaska.