Hello my fellow readers:)

It's once again a short story and I dont even have an idea if it is realistic, but hey...it's fan FICTION right? And i am so busy working on my christmas presents that I just can't wrap my mind around ver complex story lines right now;)

Hope you'll like it anyway:)

Disclaimer: Blacklist is not mine(details in Prologue)

Chapter 10

Hours later Red and Naomi arrived at their home. Although tired and worried about their daughter, their first stop was at their house. They parked the car a few blogs away and walked briskly through the dark streets until they reached their back porch.

"Stay here." Red whispered and put his finger over Naomi's lips. "Shhh."

Slowly he opened the door only a few inches, so that he could slip into the house quietly. Taking the flashlight from his car, he clicked it on and a beam of light appeared, shining the way to the kitchen. Slowly Red walked further inside the room and looked in every single corner to make sure that he was the only one in the house. Only a few minutes later, he started to relax a little bit and called Naomi to come inside. He was just about to inspect the upper level once again, when he heard Naomi calling him. When he reached the living room, where her voice was coming from, he found her standing next to the table and looking down at a piece of paper.

"What's this?" he asked her, when he reached his wife and directed his flashlight onto the paper.

"I guess someone knows you are a ghost now."

Red frowned and read the note.

Stay dead or your family will join you

"Oh god." Red whispered and his eyes wandered to his wife. "We need to go, Naomi." He was about to grab her hand, when she stepped away from him and shook her head.

"No, Ray. We can't go. This is our home. Our life. I can't just disappear."

"But…"

"What about our daughter? She has friends here. Her life is here."

"Her life is in danger here!" Red's voice boomed through the house and he felt his veins starting to pump blood faster and faster through them. Anger was boiling in his body and his hands were starting to shake.

"What are you saying, Naomi?" he growled. "That you are willing to risk our daughters life just to stay here? You can't be serious."

He gaped at her and suddenly everything clicked into place.

"Wait a second…" he glared at her unbelieving. "You want me to go, don't you?"

The silence covered them like a thick and suffocating blanket. Only Red's ragged breathing could be heard until Naomi finally moved a hand and put it on her husband's arm.

"It's not that I want you to go." She whispered, "But…I always told you that your work is dangerous. That it is dangerous for our family."

"You knew what I was doing for a living when you agreed to marry me." Red answered, dangerously quiet and ripped his arm from her grip.

"Yes I did, but I had the hope that when we got a child, you would quit."

"Simple as that, right?" Red quipped, laughing with malice. "You thought I would simply throw my career out the window and leave my family without any steady income…you really thought that?"

"I hoped…"

"I don't care what you hoped, Naomi! You thought wrong. You and Jenny are the center of my life and I would do anything for you to make your life as pleasant as possible. And living on the streets isn't pleasant, at least not for me."

"We could have found some other way. You are clever, Ray, you could have worked in some other profession."

Red snorted in disbelieve and shook his head, walking away from his wife.

"You're actually serious." He stated, again shaking his head. His hand glid through his short hair and he ruffled it in frustration. Hearing Naomi's voice made him lower his arm and turn though.

"I don't want you to leave." She started, a tear threatening to fall. "I just don't see any other way out of this mess."

"Sure." Red scoffed and walked back to the backdoor. "Don't tell her anything about what happened. She deserves a normal life."

Just when he was about to disappear through the door, Naomi made a step closer.

"Raymond!"

He stopped, holding the door open and not turning.

"Don't you want to say goodbye to your daughter?"

That made him turn and glare at her.

"I won't endanger her more than I already have. Tell her there was an accident. The less she has to lie the more believable it will be."

When the door closed and the darkness overwhelmed her, Naomi sat down on the couch and started to cry. She had been so sure he wouldn't walk out. So sure he wouldn't leave them. But than again, she also had been sure he would quit his job for them years ago.

An hour later…

"Sam? I will be going under. I just wanted you to write down the name and number for the psychologist."

"Going under?" Sam sounded almost frightened. "What happened?"

"I cant tell you." Red answered, as calmly as possible. "I won't be able to contact you for a while, but I promise you that I won't stop searching until I find details about what happened to Lizzie and who is after us. Should I find out something critical, I will inform you. Maybe it will help her deal with her past."

There was silence on the other end and Red looked at the phone suspiciously, fearing the connection had been cut. But just when he was about to hang up, Sam's voice rang through the receiver.

"I found something in her bunny. I don't know how it works but it seems that it is what you are searching for."

"Hide it." Red told him without hesitation. "Hide it somewhere and don't tell anyone where it is. Including myself."

"What?...You are making no sense…"

"If they find me…they will torture me. I don't want to know too much."

Another silent moment crept up but Red started to talk again before it could get too awkward.

"Naomi threw me out. There was a letter in the house, threatening my family. I wanted them to come with me but…"

"She didn't want to leave her life behind?" Sam finished the sentence for him, sighing while the words left his mouth.

"Yeah…" Red groaned. His head leaned against the glass of the phone booth and his lips pursed. "I will have to disappear for a while, but I will contact you from time to time if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't." Sam quickly answered. He cleared his throat, before he decided to tell his friend the newest developments.

"I don't want to distract you and add to your worries Ray…but Elizabeth is starting to have nightmares. Bad ones."

Closing his eyes, Red shook his head, sad and angry at the same time.

"About?" he finally asked.

"Her father. The moment she killed him. She dreams he comes back and wants her to apologies, but when she does…he disappears."

Red nodded, although he knew that his friend wouldn't be able to see him. His thoughts were with Lizzie and how they could help her. He felt helpless. Being so far away and not even being able to protect his own family properly, he didn't think that he would be any good at helping the traumatized girl.

"Get her to the psychologist. She should start therapy as soon as possible." He told Sam. "I have to go. Take care, my friend."

Before Sam could react, only the dial tone was left. This and the cries of the girl which had once again woken up.

tbc...

Let me know what you think, please:)