Episode 21 - Berlin - No. 8 - Part 1

The car ride to the park was silent as Dembe drove through the midday traffic and Red sat in the backseat thinking about one of two things he seemed to always be thinking about these days. Lizzie and Berlin.

Red thought back to several months ago to the whole Gina debacle and Lizzie refusing to speak to him. He remembered how bad that was. He would trade everything he had for Lizzie to be "that" mad now.

Over the last couple of days he couldn't stop replaying the scene in his mind. Him and Dembe having a nice game of cards when she walked in. When he looked up he knew. Right then and there. She knew. As bad as the day had gone, it was about to get even worse.

If he was being honest with himself, he knew this was coming. From the moment she brought up Sam at the cigar bar, he knew his time was almost up. Lizzie knew something was going on and she would not be giving this up till she knew the truth.

After Lizzie left that night, he racked his brain trying to figure out how she came about this information. Who brought this to her and just as fast as the thought went through his head, Red knew the answer.

Tom Keen.

He had the photos and was saving them for a rainy day.

He should have had Tom killed months ago. Anyone else and he would have but Lizzie would immediately know it was Red who did it and that's what held him back from calling in the order. Lizzie.

The feelings he felt day before yesterday took him by surprise. Sitting in Cooper's office and having to watch Lizzie hand in her resignation because she couldn't stand the sight of him anymore hurt. Really hurt. Her refusing to work with him, speak to him and even look at him felt like a bullet in his heart.

The meeting in the "War Room" of the Post Office didn't go any better. Lizzie spent the whole time silent, staring at him with such hatred.

And the kicker was, he didn't blame her. She was completely justified in her anger. He did kill her father. It didn't matter what his or Sam's reasons were. He killed the only family she had.

As bad as the office meeting went, that was nothing compared to the long trip to meet with Dr. Sanders.

Red had wanted things to be so different the first time Lizzie boarded his plane. He imagined that they could spent the long hours talking to one another. Not about cases, contacts or criminals but things they didn't normally get to talk about. He wanted her views and thoughts on so many different things. Politics, religion, current news items in the papers. Even after all these months he was still so fascinated by how her mind worked and how she saw the world.

But instead the plane ride was nothing but hostility, anger, resentment, and uncomfortable silence.

That's why when Dembe told him Lizzie had called and wanted to meet, he agreed right away. He knew it had everything to do with Berlin and nothing to do with them personally but at least she would have to see him face to face.

If he hadn't been so preoccupied with thinking of Lizzie, he would have known why she wanted to meet with him in a park in the middle of the day. She was quitting and he had made it clear, no Elizabeth Keen, no Raymond Reddington.

Red felt Dembe slowly stop the car at the curb on the edge of the park.

"Raymond? Do those two men look suspicious to you?" Dembe asked softly.

Red glanced up and out the front windshield to see two men hovering around the area. One dressed as a jogger and the other as a landscaper.

That's when he knew. Red knew. Lizzie was leaving and the FBI bigwigs had her call him to meet with her in a public place so they could take him in. After all, he had no tracking chip in his neck anymore so this would be their only chance at taking him down. The feeling of betrayal instantly flooded Red and just as quickly it went away.

This was Lizzie's only way at seeking some sort of revenge for her father. He didn't, couldn't, and wouldn't blame her.

"Raymond, should we go?" Dembe asked looking back at him.

"No, it's fine Dembe," Red said picking up his hat from the space next to him. "Let's go. Lizzie should be arriving soon enough."

Dembe nodded and stepped out of the car and made his way around the car to open his boss' door. Red stepped out in the sunlight and slipped on his hat as he looked around. Along with the landscaper and the jogger, there was some sort of maintenance man, a bird watcher, a woman eating her lunch on a park bench and Red could have swore he saw movement behind one of the tall hedges across the way.

Red grinned and shook his head slightly. He and Dembe were making their way to the middle of the park when Red caught sight of Lizzie walking rather quickly and looking around her, almost frantically.

"Lizzie."

"I need you to come with me."

"Where?"

"You need to get in the car NOW!"

The End!

A/N: Review :)