So... I wasn't going to post this one this weekend but then I realized that next up is Anslo Garrick! (Woot!) So, more than likely that will be two chapters on its own and since I tend to prefer posting two chapters each weekend, I didn't think you guys would enjoy me posting this one and then the first part of the Anslo Garrick chapters next week and then leave you hanging so... here ya go! Don't ever let it be said that I leave ya'll hanging too long on a cliffie! I plan for this stuff.
"Lizzie, are you sure? You don't have to do this. We can find another way."
"No, I…I'll be fine. I can do this. I just.. I won't do uh...that with him. I can't." Lizzie shuddered and Red walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her.
"If you need me or Dembe, don't hesitate to call."
Lizzie nodded against his chest before stepping back and wiping her eyes. "I know. And thanks." Lizzie looked at Red then over at Dembe. "I don't think I could do this without you both." Lizzie said as she slowly headed to the door. "Love you guys."
/\/\/\/\
The television was on in the kitchen as they got ready for work.
"A cargo plane bound for Los Angeles … sources say it exploded just 90 seconds after takeoff here in Washington."
"Hey, you see this?" Tom asked, nodding at the TV.
"Huh?" Lizzie questioned, not looking up from where she was preparing her mug of coffee.
"Plane crash."
Lizzie finally turned around, a sinking feeling telling her she was going to have a long day.
"The debris and the eyewitness accounts say it looks like a bomb. Investigators on the ground as to the nature of the explosion." The broadcaster announced.
Lizzie sighed just before her cell began to ring. Her brow furrowed in confusion. He usually never calls at this time.
"It's my Pop…" She murmured to Tom before answering.
"Eyewitness reports are claiming that this could be the result of a terr–" Lizzie grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.
"Hey…Is everything okay?" Lizzie answered the phone.
"What, I can't call my daughter unless there's something wrong?"
Lizzie winced as she heard his muffled coughs over the phone. "How you feeling?"
"Oh, you know me. Picture of health."
"Something's wrong." Lizzie bit her lip.
"Yeah, this 12–year–old who claims to be an oncologist wants to run another series of tests."
"You're in the hospital? I'm coming." Her voice took on an urgent tone, causing Tom to perk up in alert next to her. She ignored him. She was unable to look at him without shivering in disgust.
"No, you're not. I'm fine. Listen, butterball, i- it's under control. I got teams of medical people here. Their teams have teams. I'm fine."
Lizzie waited until his latest bout of hacking coughs finished. "When are these tests happening?"
"Today. Soon as the doc finishes her Martini." Sam grumped.
"No jokes." Lizzie huffed, annoyed at her Pop's stubborn nature. "If this is serious, I want to be there."
"It's not."
"Don't say that just 'cause you don't want to bother me. You're my Pop. You're allowed to bother me."
"It's just a test, Lizzie."
Lizzie gave up, noting his exasperated tone. "Okay. Leave your phone on and call me as soon as it's done, okay?"
"All right."
"Pop, I love you."
"I love you, too."
/\/\/\/\
"Absolutely not. I'm not giving you access to the FBI's ViCAP system."
Lizzie stood quietly at the back of Cooper's office, trying not to interfere in the little stare down that was currently happening between her boss and her dad.
"Then you'll just have to find another criminal to talk to Elizabeth Keen and make fun of Agent Ressler."
"We have an agreement."
"Yes, the agreement is for me to bring cases to you. It doesn't work the other way around. I'm not your consultant. I have no interest in cases that I have no interest in." Red stood up, his placid face showing he was bored with this conversation. "Personally, I think my proposal was incredibly fair. You have got to give to get, Harold."
"You're asking me to go beyond the terms of our agreement."
"If you want me to help you with this case, I will, but I need something extra to sweeten the deal. Rest assured, granting me access to ViCAP will benefit you just as much as it does me."
"Does this mean you know who took down that cargo plane?"
Red threw back his head and laughed, clearly at Cooper expense. "You're speaking as if an individual is responsible for this. It's far bigger than you might think. It's a movement. Do we have a deal?"
/\/\/\/\
Lizzie and Ressler were heading to their vehicle, leaving the site where the plane went down. They had just found out that both Roger Gard, the cargo operator who loaded the bomb onto the plane, and Arthur Denning, the employee of the fertilizer plant were the same person.
Lizzie dialed the familiar number before putting her phone to her ear. Climbing into the car, Lizzie sighed as Sam's phone went to voicemail.
"Hey. I know you don't want to call me because you don't want to freak me out, but F.Y.I., not calling me freaks me out, so call me. Uh, I– I just want to know about the tests. I love you."
/\/\/\/\
Luli and Mary, a housewife by day and counterfeiter by night, sat at a fold out table in Mary's garage as Red lounged back in a picnic chair, reading a tabloid.
"Malaysia is the future, Mary. A whole new world is waiting there. They are starting a production line." Luli enthused as she placed the counterfeited bills in the automatic counter as Mary pulled them down from the drying racks.
"I am not moving to Malaysia."
"I understand, but with your skills in a market like Kuala Lumpur –"
"I find it so reassuring the movie stars, the pop singers they really are just like the rest of us." Red didn't look up from his tabloid as he made it known that he was there, still listening.
"Mr. Reddington, I told you, I'm not interested in anything outside Fairfax County. Caleb's in school. He's 9. I'm treasurer of the PTA, for God's sakes. I can't just leave." Mary swept her hand in an arch as if to say "look at all that I've got going for me here." Unfortunately for her, her argument was hampered by the large crack in the foundational wall and a pile of laundry that smelled like football season.
"Mary, darling, you would thrive in Malaysia, and Caleb would love it. Those thieving little monkeys near Batu Caves are absolute rascals." At the sound of the door to the garage opening, Red turned around and quickly hid his shock at seeing Lizzie walk in.
"Molly!" He shouted in pleasant surprise as he stood to greet her. "What are you doing here? You're a little early. We're not ready yet." Red turned to back to Mary. "One of our most trusted couriers. Please excuse us."
Red quickly ushered Lizzie out of the garage and into Mary's backyard.
"You have a suburban housewife printing fake money out of her garage." Lizzie asked, incredulous.
"Mary is an artist. She has a tremendous gift."
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I've been calling your people all morning. Luli didn't pick up."
"Luli didn't pick up because we are busy."
Lizzie's eyes narrowed. That sounded an awful lot like a reprimand. "Well, then you should have dug that chip out of your damn neck."
Red shook his head, a small smile gracing his face. God she was a spitfire. "Well, you're here now, so what's on your mind?" He asks as he meanders over to the swing set and sits down on one of them.
"We searched the home address listed for both suspects and were able to pull some prints. They belong to Nathaniel Wolff."
Red laughed as he began to slowly pump his legs to get the swing moving. "I never tire of being correct." He said, shaking his head. He had told the F.B.I. that Nathaniel Wolff was behind the General Ludd movement. But did anyone believe him? Of course not. Honestly, they treated him like a criminal sometimes.
"Someone changed his face."
"I understand Sam isn't well."
"Excuse me?" Lizzie was completely thrown by the change in topic.
"The cancer. It's come back?" Red murmured in concern as he looked up at her.
"Pop's fine. He's just … Who the hell told you that?" How could he know? She had just found out that morning.
Red looked at her solemnly as he continued swining. "You should be there with him, Lizzie."
"I can't play this game with you, not now."
"Dr. Maltz."
"What?"
"Abraham Maltz. The best surgeon for this sort of business." When Lizzie didn't jump into action he repeated the name, louder. "Maltz!" So maybe he yelled it a little bit.
/\/\/\/\
Red and Lizzie were walking down the hallway of a swanky office building.
"Before we do this, let me be clear I have somewhere that I desperately need to be today, so this needs to happen quickly. You need to follow my lead. Dr. Maltz is not on the blacklist. He's an asset I need to protect."
"You want me to protect some plastic surgeon who might be linked to a terrorist organization?" Lizzie asked, unbelieving of what her father was asking of her.
"Yes." He stated simply before opening the door to Dr. Maltz office and opening his arms in greeting as they walked in. The first that Lizzie saw was the supposed Dr. Maltz getting a pedicure. "Abraham!"
"Raymond. What brings you in?" The Doctor greeted Raymond as if they were old friends.
"I don't know how you do it." Red shook his head as he watched the man file away at Maltz's toes. "I had that done once. I couldn't bear the tickling. How are you? We need to talk, in private."
"Yeah, sure." Maltz said, moving to stand up. "Give us a minute, please?" Maltz directed his pedicurist to the door. "Ray, look at you. You look great. I mean, the elasticity is amazing. You been juicing?" Maltz scrutinized Red's face as if it were a painting in an art gallery.
"Beets, mostly. Some celery, carrots, a lot of ginger. The kale makes me dyspeptic." Red rubbed his stomach.
Maltz seemed to finally notice Lizzie and took a step away from Red. "And what's a beautiful young woman like you doing with this vulture?"
"Trust me, it's not by choice." She responded, her sarcasm in full force today.
"So, Nathaniel Wolff – you gave him a new face. I need to find him."
Maltz lifted his hands in supplication. "You know I would help you if I could, Raymond."
"I do, and I thank you for that, Abraham. Normally, I wouldn't impose, but this is a personal matter of some urgency."
"You know my business. You know the rules. It's all about confidentiality."
"Absolutely. This conversation should never leave this office."
Maltz's lips thinned as his patience did the same. "I just got done with six hours of surgery, and you walk in – I mean, I don't know you – " He pointed at Lizzie then at Red, "or why you think you can come in here and ask questions about my clients. Red, help me out."
"My name is Special Agent Elizabeth Keen. I'm with the FBI. Mr. Reddington is working with us, helping us to capture high-value targets, and Nathaniel Wolff is one of them. I need to find Wolff, and I know you can help us."
Maltz looked to Red, aghast. "Wait a minute. You're an informant now? How dare you come in this –"
Lizzie spoke over him, cutting him off. "Did you hear me? I said I need his new name. Give it to me, or I'll have the Miami field office tear your practice apart faster than you can say 'tummy tuck.'"
Maltz sighed in aggravation, recognizing when he's cornered. "Bradley Holland. Okay? That's the name he goes under now – Bradley Holland."
Red took a step back, putting his weight on one leg as if to lean away from Maltz in disgust. "Abraham! I refer important clients to you, people who are vital to my business, people whose livelihood depends on your confidentiality, and you roll over like a cockapoo wanting his belly scratched?"
"You said this guy was solid!" Lizzie shouted in consternation.
"What? Wait a minute." Poor, confused Maltz.
"Some woman who claims to be an FBI agent-" Red swept his arm behind him, pointing at Lizzie. "-makes a few ham-fisted threats, and you hand over one of your own clients? That's dirty pool. God forbid this little incident ever gets back to poor Nathaniel Wolff."
"Red, I don't know what's going on here!" Poor, confused, desperate Maltz.
Red put his hand on his hip. "What other secrets have you just given away?"
"Nothing!"
Red leaned in to stage whisper. "Who knows about the work I've had done?"
"Nobody, truthfully! You know me!" Maltz implored.
"I brought Christina to you specifically for your discretion and expertise. I assured her you were trustworthy."
"I'm sorry."
Red shook his head. "I was wrong. Shame on you, Abraham. I know another doctor. Let's go." Red quickly directed Lizzie out of the office, Maltz's voice trailing after them.
"No, Red. We we could make this right. You know me. I would never give out a name of any client!"
The moment the door closed behind them, Red and Lizzie high fived, grinning at each other.
"I'll say it again, Lizzie. We make a great team."
/\/\/\/\
Lizzie and Ressler were on their way to the Reagan airport where they got a hit on Wolff's latest alias – Bradley Holland. Apparently he was a pilot now. They were discussing the case as they drove when Lizzie's phone interrupted.
"Tom." She answered the call.
"Liz, Aunt June called."
"I'm sorry." Lizzie sighed. She could not deal with this right now. "Now's not a good time."
"Uh, she said your dad hasn't exactly been telling you the truth. Apparently, he's a little sicker than he's been letting on."
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Aunt June gets indigestion and thinks she's having a stroke."
"The cancer's spread to his liver." Tom announced abruptly.
Lizzie sat up in her seat, garnering an askance look from Ressler as he continued driving. "What? No, he was just going in for a few tests."
"Apparently, it's a little more serious than that, and Aunt June thinks that we need to be there, like, now."
"I can't." Lizzie ran her fingers through her hair. "I– Oh, my God. I got to call him."
"No, he's in surgery. Listen, I'm on the next flight out of Dulles, and I got Ellie to watch Hudson."
"So surgery for what? Have you talked to his oncologist?"
"No, I talked to June, and you're right. She's probably overreacting. But if you can't go now, then, uh – then let me book you the 6:15 tomorrow morning, and you'll be in Nebraska by noon. Okay? Lizzie, okay?"
"Okay."
Lizzie hung up the phone and stared out the window.
"You all right?" The amount of sympathy in Ressler's voice surprised her and though she was grateful, all she could do was nod.
A few moments later, Ressler's phone rang and he reached to answer it, listening intently before hanging up.
"We got him. Deadheading to Denver, flight 1143."
The tires of the SUV squealed as they came to a stop on the airport tarmac a fair distance away from the plane that was flight 1143.
"Lock off this runway! Clear that terminal! I want everyone out of here now!" Ressler started yelling at any and all who would listen as they hopped out of the car.
"We need emergency vehicles on standby. Bomb squad's en route. I want every bag –" Lizzie began speaking to airport security when she was knocked off her feet by the sudden concussive blast as the plane blew up.
One month. She just wanted one month where things didn't go boom in her face.
/\/\/\/\
Lizzie walked up to Cooper where he stood, staring at a screen in the war room.
"Sir? I have a family emergency. My father's sick. I need to catch a flight."
"Not an option."
"I know the timing is terrible –"
"All flights are grounded."
"What? Why?" Lizzie's stomach dropped. She had to get home. She had to get to Sam.
"General Ludd. FBI headquarters received a manifesto." Cooper hit play and the video he'd been watching began again.
"We are General Ludd. Our uprising against the undue influence of corporations on our government has begun. Today marks the beginning of a war. Our enemy? The oligarchs of corporate America, who have destroyed the middle class on whose backs this country was built. Our fight is for the soul of this country. There will be protests, violent uprisings, planes will fall from the skies. The corrupt corporate giants will be brought to their knees. So, as it begins, ask yourself: Are you General Ludd?"
"The F.A.A. has implemented 9/11 protocol. All planes are grounded until further notice."
/\/\/\/\/\
Red sat at Sam's bedside as they both laughed. "Oh, my God. I've never been more scared of a woman in my life. She was thrilling in bed. What a pair of legs. I think she played field hockey in college." Sam laughs at Red's story though it quickly turned to a coughing fit. Red leaned forward and grabbed the cup of water sitting at Sam's bedside and helped him to drink it.
"I've missed that laugh." Red murmured softly as he took Sam's hand in his. "You look like hell."
Sam's only response was another choked laugh.
"I've finally gotten the chance to just be with her, Sam. I don't have to worry about staying too long, I can just… be there." Red smiled wistfully. "You should see her at work, Sam. There's a fire inside she got from you. She's volatile. Unpredictable. Soft then hard then – "He laughed, shaking his head. "Soft again. Stronger than she knows. You gave her an incredible gift, Sam. You gave me a wonderful gift, taking her in and loving her as your own."
"They've given me six weeks." Sam muttered. "For what? So I can lay here and watch them take me apart? I wish they'd said six hours. And I told them, I said, 'you can get rid of those damn machines. Go monitor somebody who's actually got vital signs.'
They both laughed, though Red's was a bit forced.
"I need you to do this for me, Red."
"No."
"Red, please. help me go out the way I want to."
"You can't ask me to do this, Sam." Red sucked his teeth as the tic under his eye began to twitch.
/\/\/\/\
Lizzie ducked into an empty hallway at the Post Office when she heard her phone going off.
"Pop, thank God. I was so worried. What's going on? Tom just spoke with Aunt June."
"It's me, Lizzie." Red's voice came over the line, thick and deep."
"What? What's going on? Are you there?"
"Lizzie, he's asked me…" Red choked on his words and Lizzie realized he must be crying.
"Dad? Dad, what's going on, you're scaring me."
"He's in a lot of pain, Lizzie." His voice was barely a whisper.
"What? No. He was just going in for some tests." Lizzie leaned against the wall, placing a hand on her knee to keep them from going out beneath her.
"He's asked me to help him, Lizzie."
Lizzie was silent as it finally hit her, what he was implying.
"Don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare." She said darkly and heard more choking breaths on the other line.
"I can't deny him this, Lizzie. Not this."
Lizzie breathed out shakily as tears began to cascade down her face.
"God, Dad… I can't… I don't…"
"I know, Sweetheart. I know."
Lizzie bit her lip. "Can you at least wait – "
"Don't ask that, Lizzie. This is hard for all of us but he's in so much pain, Lizzie. You can't ask that of him."
Lizzie didn't bother suppressing her sob. "Put him on. I need to talk… I need to say goodbye."
Lizzie heard rustling and the sound of a door opening and closing followed by low murmurs.
"Lizzie."
At the sound of Sam's voice, Lizzie began to sob in earnest.
"Papa." She whispered brokenly.
"Look – I'm sorry to bring you so late to the party, but – About three months ago, I wasn't feeling so great." Lizzie heaved in a breath, trying to calm down so she could hear his gravelly voice over the line. "So I went to the doc, and, uh she said the cancer came back and spread everywhere. They're not givin' me much longer and frankly Butterball, I'm tapped out. I should've told you the truth. I should've been honest with you from the get–go. But I couldn't. I was trying to protect you."
Ignoring her Dad's words from earlier, Lizzie began to plead with Sam. "I can't… I need to say goodbye! This isn't enough!"
"I'm sorry, Darlin'. But it's gonna have to be. You've got your Dad and Dembe. They'll get you through this. Besides, what's that you and your dad are always saying? This isn't goodbye, Butterball."
"It's 'til next time." She sobbed, willing herself to save her freak out about the unfairness of it all until later.
"'Til next time, Butterball. I love you."
"I love you too, Papa."
/\/\/\/\
Red murmured his thanks as he picked up his coffee, placing a hefty tip in the jar atop the counter of the coffee truck parked outside of the hospital.
"Mind if I sit?" He questioned, walking up to the small table that sat out in the sun.
Tom looked up and Red smirked as he froze for a moment before quickly recovering. "No, go right ahead." Tom gestured to the seat opposite him as he folded the newspaper he'd been reading back up. "Visiting someone?"
Red nodded. "A friend. He died today."
"Oh."
"Yourself?"
"I, uh, came here to see my father–in–law. But I– I– I didn't get here in time." Tom looked away and Red wanted to pummel the pseudo-sympathy right off his boy-next-door face.
"Oh, my. I'm terribly sorry. It's hard to not say goodbye. I have lost so many people. Never seems to get any easier."
"I don't know what I'm gonna say to my wife." Tom shook his head looking away in apparent distress. How dare the little shit. "I've been sitting here for I don't know how long trying to figure out how to tell her. My wife and her dad, they had something. He took her in when she was four years old, adopted her and raised her as a single parent. She's gonna be heartbroken."
"Yes." Red said gravely, staring at Tom until he was forced to look back at him by the sheer awkwardness of the gaze. "It'll undoubtedly take some time. But I'm sure she'll be fine." Red's gaze hardened. "He'll always be there with her, standing in the shadows to keep her safe, laughing with her in the light, watching through her eyes all those who get close. He'll always be there. She will be fine."
There was a tense silence before Tom smiled almost shyly. "I hope you're right."
"I know I am."
/\/\/\/\
After the phone call, it had taken Lizzie a herculean effort and lots of cold water splashed on her face in the women's bathroom for her to regain some semblance of control. She wasn't calm, she was the furthest from calm she'd ever been but she'd learned from the best how to not let anyone see you sweat. Her life was falling down around her. Her husband was a spy, her Pop was dying of cancer – dying by the hands of her Dad. And she had to play it cool and catch terrorists. God she needed a drink.
"This was never about the money. Wolff's people hit that truck for something far more valuable than the cash." She stated to the team as they stood around in the war room.
She and Ressler had just arrived back from chasing after Wolff after he used another alias to steal an armored vehicle with hundreds of millions of dollars and minting materials for the hundred-dollar bill in a safe in the back.
"There was a safe on the truck. In it was a hard drive containing software upgrades for the new hundred-dollar bill – proprietary algorithms, plate design, watermarks, encoding techniques. Every last hair on Ben Franklin's eyelash is on that drive. Luckily, we got to him before he could access the safe." Ressler stated, his hands on his hips and his feet planted shoulder width apart in his signature Captain America stance.
"Any indication where Wolff may be?" Cooper questioned.
"We put out an APB. All major roads, trains, buses, and ports have been secured. With planes still grounded, flying out isn't an option." Meera answered.
"That's not exactly true." Lizzie murmured as if speaking to herself as an idea struck her.
/\/\/\/\
"Lizzie." Red answered his phone hesitantly, unsure of what awaited him on the other line.
"You obviously can still fly, right? Your tracker puts you seven miles above Illinois."
Ahh so we're completely ignoring the two-ton elephant in the room. Got it. "If you know what corners to cut, yes, everything is possible."
"Wolff wanted us to ground those planes so he could steal the blueprints for the new hundred-dollar bill. He's escaping by plane. Nobody's watching the sky."
"My guess is you're half right."
"So if you were him, where would you fly from?"
"Where was Wolff last seen?"
"Wall Street."
Red huffed out a small laugh. "How fitting. Let me look into the matter. I'll see what I can find."
They hung up quickly and Red looked behind him. "Dembe, tell Edward we're making an unscheduled stop."
/\/\/\/\
Wolff hopped out of his car and walked across the tarmac of the small airport in upstate New York where Red leaned against the small plane which would be Wolff's getaway vehicle.
"Hey. Ready to go?"
"Oh, I'm not your pilot. He went for a stroll." Red laughed, walking towards Wolff.
"Well, get him back." Wolff shifted on his feet as he gazed around them, unaware of Dembe until he held a gun to his head.
"Years ago, I used to smuggle small shipments of Oaxaca-highland gold into this airstrip. Beautiful space. Bumpy as hell. You know, Mr. Wolff, I admire your commitment. Others may doubt you, may think your revolutionary talk is just that talk to cover your grief but I think not. You really do want this country's financial system to fail. And if I'm not mistaken, you've come up with an ingenious way to make that happen."
"Who are you?" Wolff questioned.
Red completely ignored him. "No doubt, the feds are congratulating themselves this very minute for recovering the blueprint they assume is real, but you and I know it's not. It's a fake."
"How do you know that?"
"You swapped the drives, gave the feds a counterfeit. If the mint uses it, billions of dollars of counterfeit currency will be circulated, bankrupting this country."
"And you're gonna, what – stop me? Turn me in?"
Dembe cocked his gun and Red laughed.
"I'm gonna rob you. Because unlike you, I happen to believe in capitalism. I like money. I like the lifestyle it affords me. I like the things that happen when you give it away. What becomes of you and General Ludd once you board that plane is none of my concern though it is worth noting that a true luddite would burn the plane rather than fly in it. But whatever. Your irony. At any rate, have a safe flight. And buckle up. This runway is a bitch."
Red and Dembe walked away, back to the hangar where their jet awaited.
"You got the tail number?"
"Yes, Raymond."
"Good. Send it to Lizzie."
/\/\/\/\/\
Lizzie stood and watched as her Pop's casket was lowered into the ground, everything a blob of browns and greens with one bright spot where she'd placed a bouquet of flowers on the coffin. She didn't bother wiping away the tears so she could see. Why did she want to see? She just had to be there, had to exist beside her Pop just one last time. All the other funeral-goers had left a while ago but she just couldn't bring herself to leave him.
"Lizzie-" Tom came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Lizzie quickly side stepped, resisting the urge to shiver and making it appear as if she were heading to the car. His touch made her skin crawl.
Finally wiping her eyes, Lizzie looked up and paused at the sight of Red and Dembe, leaning against a black Rolls on the side of the road leading out of the cemetery. They'd come. She couldn't believe they had come.
"Lizzie,"
"Can you go get the car?" Lizzie interrupted whatever Tom was about to say.
There was silence as Lizzie stared at her Dad and brother, unknowing of the fact that her father wasn't staring back at her but rather at Tom in an obvious challenge.
"Yea, sure. Take as long as you need." Tom murmured before scuttling away.
Unable to bring herself to care who was watching, Lizzie ran down the hill towards her Dad and Dembe, not slowing down as she ran directly into her dad's arms. As he engulfed her in a hug, Lizzie clung to him with one arm as she cried, reaching out blindly until she felt Dembe's hand in her own and squeezed.
"Shh Lizzie, we'll be okay. We'll get through this." Red whispered as he carded his fingers through her hair, kissing the crown of her forehead.
Lizzie turned her head to look at her brother and squeezed his hand once more as she saw him looking to the top of the hill where Sam's grave stood, a single tear tracing its way down his cheek.
/\/\/\/\
"You get one bite of the apple." Cooper warned Red before exiting his own office and leaving Red to use his computer.
Red took opened the red envelope he'd gotten as payment from Wujing and entered the numbers that were found on the single piece of paper within the envelop into the ViCAP system. A picture of a pretty young woman by the name "Lucy Brooks" appeared and he smiled grimly at the screen.
/\/\/\/\/\
Lizzie walked into the garage of Mary-the-counterfeiter once more and was quickly and silently ushered back outside by Red.
"I should've known when you agreed to help us catch Wolff that you would take something for yourself. We didn't think he could access the safe on the truck, but he did. And he swapped the original drive for a counterfeit, and when we arrested him, he didn't have it."
Red didn't say anything for a moment as he gazed at Lizzie, sizing her up to try and deduce how she was doing. "How are you holding up? This is going to be a difficult time. The best way to keep the memory of Sam alive is to talk about him. Tell me some stories." Red gestured grandly towards the swing set in Mary's yard and walked over, sitting on one of the swings and smiled as Lizzie did the same. They sat in silence for a moment, gently swinging back in forth until Lizzie finally started telling him the story when she'd fallen out of a tree while trying to save a cat.
They both knew he'd heard it before. He heard about it over the phone the night it happened. But it felt good to remember together.
/\/\/\/\/\
They sat out in that yard, swinging and chatting for hours. Just reminiscing about the good times with Sam until their conversation dwindled into a comfortable silence and dusk began to settle in.
"Are you still staying at that hotel?" Lizzie asked, looking down at her feet.
"Yes." He murmured, unsure of where this was going.
"Good. Um... can I stay there tonight? I think I want to take you up on your offer. I can't stay in that house." Lizzie took a deep breath. "I can't deal with him pretending to be the caring husband, acting like he gives a damn while I'm mourning Sam. His touch... I have to shower with scalding hot water until my skin turns red just to wipe the memory of it off me, knowing that I have to crawl into bed with him at night." Lizzie looked over at her dad. "I can't do it. I'm not strong enough."
"No. No, Lizzie. Don't ever say that. You are the strongest woman I know, Sweetheart." Red reached over and grabbed her hand, coaxing her fingers away from the chain of her swing and holding them in his. "This is an impossible situation, Lizzie. I know that. And I will be forever sorry for being the cause of it. We will figure this out Lizzie. We will find another way. I don't want you going back there."
Lizzie nodded, squeezing her Dad's hand as she attempted a smile. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me for being your father, Lizzie. Just let me. I haven't gotten to be your father enough over the years."