Author's Note: Midterms are next week so I may have to take a little break in writing (sorry). Again, none of this is mine, comments are greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 14
The first thing Harold Cooper feels as he slowly slips back into consciousness is a dull ache in his head. Then a slight tingling starts in his feet that gradually transforms into a burning sensation that travels through his entire body.
He becomes fully conscious and all he can feel is the burning pain all through his body. His tongue is dry and the back of his throat stings from dehydration. He doubles forward with a racking cough. He feels something warm dribble out of his mouth- blood. His arms are chained so he is unable to wipe it away.
He tries to make out his surrounding, but it is too dark to make out anything. His back is pressed against a cement wall with his arms bound above him. His ankles are bound with the same cold metal cuffs. He can barely move his legs it's so tight.
Memories come back to Cooper in flashes. He had been meeting with someone… A face flashes before his eyes, and it is very familiar but he can't place it. His mind does not seem to be cooperating with him. Then the name comes to him- Senator Philip. Cooper can feel dread fill him with the name and he thinks back.
A man's face flashes before his eyes- the man's eyes are filled with panic and his mouth is open and he is shouting something. He is shouting at him to put the gun down. The sound of the gunshot resonates in Cooper's ears as if he is back in '97 making the same mistake that changed his life forever.
The gun goes off two more times in his memory. Blood covers the ground. He can't look at the body, can't bare to meet the dead stare of the innocent man he shot down. The guilt that hits Cooper is just as real and just as intense as it was all those years ago.
Before he can even process that old memory a new one appears. He is in a large room- a meeting office. Senator Philips is there and they are talking. Cooper is trying to persuade him to do something- help him with an operation of sort. Something to do with Reddington. He is refusing- it is too dangerous.
Then Cooper's phone is ringing. He picks it up and it's Agent Keen. She sounds worried- there is someone coming after her, she calls him The Banker. Their newest blacklister with connections to her ex-husband.
Cooper feels the panic again. He needs to find Agent Keen and Navabi before The Banker gets to them. He tells Philips that he needs to leave. Philips tells him that's not going to be an option. He remembers a sharp prick in his neck and after that nothing.
Cooper sags against the wall. He wishes that his memory had been gone for longer. He wishes that he hadn't been forced to relive the incident. Most of all, Cooper wishes that he had never pulled the trigger that day. Cooper has spent his whole life trying to redeem himself from that one moment, and never once has the guilt left him.
Cooper knows that he deserves this. His fate had been determined the second he had killed an innocent man. He thinks briefly to his family. He had been away for so long. Regret fills him on all the time he had missed. Time he would never get back.
The irony of the timing is not last on him. The doctors had given him a year. The osteoporosis has already spread through his entire body. It is too far along to be treatable. Now, only 3 months after the diagnosis, Cooper is facing his imminent death.
Cooper lets himself slip into a dark state. He lets all the regret, guilt, fear, and pain he had felt in his life fill him. He tries to come to terms with his sins. He had long ago stopped believing in God; it is hard to have faith when surrounded by demons, but a prayer comes to him from when he was a boy.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. It is too late to fix some of his sins, but he can make his peace with the world. Cooper feels the weight that had been slowly suffocating him for years being slowly lifted off his shoulders. He is finally at peace.
Red steps out of the SUV. He eyes the warehouse warily. He sees no outward defenses, but The Keeper has always been a sneaky son of a bitch. The rest of the agents pile out of the van and get ready for the fight. Bullet proof vests are strapped on, machine guns are loaded, and earpieces are put in.
Red is leading Team A into the building and Ressler is leading Team B. Liz hadn't even protested that- so far she had kept her word about obeying orders. Red watches her slip on a vest, a determined look already on her face.
He pushes back the fear at the thought of putting her in danger. He will not let anything happen to her, even if he has to die to save her. The thought of putting his own life before Liz's is not even questioned by Red anymore. It has become more of a fact; Liz's life went before his own, no matter the circumstances, no matter the consequences.
Little did Red know that Liz has already accepted the same fact about him. She will sacrifice herself for Red without a second thought. All they have left is each other.
Finally everyone is ready. Liz follows Red to their entrance point. Team A consists of just the two of them- it's more of a distraction to give Team B time to carry out their plans.
They enter through a ground floor window. The warehouse is meant to look abandoned so all they have to do is remove a wooden board and they are inside.
Red carefully replaces the board sealing them into darkness. "We're inside," he whispers into his mouth piece as he waits for his eyes to adjust to the dark.
As soon as his eyes can make out small grey shapes in the darkness he starts to move, hearing Liz following behind him. The Keeper would not keep anything on the ground floor- his operation is completely underground. They are safe for now.
Red walks across the floor quietly, searching for an entry into The Keeper's lair. He stops when he hears his footstep echo a little differently on the ground. He walks back over the spot and feels the floor shift ever so slightly. He brushes off the dirty ground to reveal a wooden panel. Liz helps him pry it open.
A ladder leads down, farther than either of their eyes can reach. They both glance down it for a moment, then Red gives a small nod and comforting smile to Liz and starts to descend. Liz is right after him. They are almost silent as they climb down at a careful pace.
Red feels apprehension filling him. He hasn't felt this nervous for an operation in years, and he tries to push it away but every thought of Liz brings it back. He needs to focus.
After about a minute of climbing Red feels his foot hit solid ground. He turns and is met with pitch blackness. He scarcely dares to breathe for a moment as he listens for signs that they are not alone. Finally satisfied, he steps away from the ladder allowing Liz to drop down beside him.
They pull on their night vision goggles that Ressler had deemed necessary for the operation. Looks like Captain America is useful for something after all, Red thinks to himself, still more worked up then he would care to admit about Ressler interrupting them. He really has missed Lizzy.
The reason Red hadn't thought of the night vision goggles himself is because of his past experiences with them. He has never liked using night vision goggles because of their limited range of vision. They cut off your peripheral vision, and Red's ability to catch things out of the corner of his eye had saved him on numerous occasions. Red is a little uneasy about using the goggles, but it is better than going in blind.
Liz follows him as he starts down the small cement hall. It looks like they're in a bunker. Despite the danger they are in, Liz finds that she is not afraid. Her fear had been replaced by brave determination- not only to save Cooper, but to get her and Red out of this alive. Or if she couldn't get all of them out alive, at the very least give Red a fighting chance.
There is also a strange kind of excitement in her brought on by the adrenaline of the situation. Liz feels a little invincible as she tiptoes behind Red.
They hardly make a sound as they approach the first door. It is a huge metal contraption that is covered in security devices. There is a fingerprint scanner, a card reader with a password, and finally a good old fashioned lock. It would take even an expert lock picker a couple of minutes and a blowtorch to get through.
Red seems to expect this and turns and starts walking back down the hallway. Liz is quite sure he has a backup plan. Sure enough, they walk back a few feet and Liz looks up to see a large vent set into the wall. It is covered by a grate. She looks at Red and he makes a lifting hand motion. He is going to prop her up. Liz nods that she understand and Red bends down.
He puts her foot in his hand and he starts to stand up, moving her so she is level with the grate. Liz takes a small knife from her belt and starts working out the screws with it. It is painstaking work, but Liz works fast and Red doesn't complain. Soon the last screw is out and Liz pulls the grate off and gently places it on the ground.
She pulls herself up and wiggles awkwardly until she is in. It is a tight fit, but it will do. She helps Red up and Red pull the grate back into place. They crawl forward. Now it is time to find Cooper before The Keeper finds them