Shoot is a strange word. The more I write it the stranger it gets... Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, even when I've been the worst updater in the world. This story is always hanging out in the back of my mind, even when I'm not working on it, so don't worry about me abandoning it. I just can't.

Thanks for the sweet reviews and favorites and follows. It means the world to me.

I own nothing. If I owned it...well...

The hospital was quickly becoming one of Elizabeth's least favorite places. The staff knew her now, knew that she belonged with the FBI and that her presence somehow indicated danger. If they only knew... The stares she drew as she hastened down the halls in the direction of the fallen politician only served to quicken her pace. Whispers of corruption and political conspiracy theories that were never quite meant to reach her ears quickened her heart rate as well as her footsteps. Elizabeth did not need to hear anything that could give her ideas. She had plenty of her own.

Stopping outside the Senator's room, Elizabeth took a moment to collect herself. No need to startle or scare Melanie more than necessary. Rapping three solid times on the door, Elizabeth obeyed when a soft, trembling voice bade her to come in. She tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid glancing at the hospital bed where Alan Fitch lay attached to various tubes and wires. Red's recent tango with a bullet flashed across her mind, and she turned quickly away from the sight, focusing instead on Melanie. The poor girl looked a mess, and Elizabeth's heart went out to her. Desperately, she tried to think of something to say, but Melanie beat her to it.

"He was afraid."

Not what Elizabeth had been expecting. She leaned heavily against the door, giving Melanie some space. "Of what?"

Melanie shrugged. "I'm not sure. Too afraid to ask."

"Then why..."

"About a year ago I stopped by his house after my shift," Melanie interrupted, running her fingers tiredly through her hair. "I hadn't seen him in about two weeks. Half of our clinical staff had been out with the flu and I was picking up extra shifts... Anyway, he was drinking."

Elizabeth pushed away from the door and took a few tentative steps toward Melanie, intrigued. "Is that unusual?" As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted them. She was sounding more like an interrogator than a friend.

"Well it wasn't so much that he was drinking so much as the amount he was drinking."

A loud beep from one of the many bedside monitors seemed to warn Melanie not to continue any further, and she fell silent. Elizabeth took the last few strides over to the chair beside Melanie and sat down slowly, hoping the conversation would pick back up. Staring at the once-powerful man laid low in the hospital bed, Elizabeth found that she could not wait for Melanie to tell her what she wanted to hear. "Did he say something he shouldn't have?"

Melanie shook her head, her long hair falling limply over her shoulders. Her fingers left their post around the arm of the chair and tugged at the ends, a nervous habit Elizabeth had never noticed before. "Nope. Not to me. He didn't even realize I was there." Her lips twisted up in an eerie smile, a sharp contrast to the emptiness in her eyes. "But he was having the most fascinating conversation with Becky, our housekeeper. Apparently, they were both screwed because "Melanie's father" was in town, and that's not a good thing."

Shit.

The shock that registered on Elizabeth's face seemed to be appropriate, at least to Melanie, who chuckled mirthlessly at her dropped jaw and widened eyes.

"Oh I think I've always known that I was adopted. Or at least I thought I was adopted. No baby pictures, no baby books, no relatives that looked even remotely like me... The only thing that ever made sense was that I was adopted and my dad couldn't bring himself to tell me. But now I'm not so sure. I could see why Dad would be nervous if my biological father was in town and wanted to meet me. Completely understandable. But Becky... Becky was afraid. Why would Becky be afraid?"

That was a great question. Elizabeth tapped her foot on the floor and pondered silently, unable to give Melanie any reasonable answer. Unless their housekeeper was in on the secret, why would she be afraid? What was her involvement in the deception?

Bracing her elbows on her knees, Melanie leaned forward and caught her head in her hands. "What if this was him? What if this was my father?" Her words were muffled, but Elizabeth could clearly hear the anguish in them. "If Dad were keeping me from him and it made him angry... What if he's coming for me?"

Elizabeth flinched, Melanie's words bringing to the surface doubts Elizabeth had been trying to bury all afternoon. Red had devoted twenty years of his life to finding out what happened to his family, only to find out that he had been betrayed by someone he had once considered an ally. Fitch had stolen his daughter and kept her from him, when he could have easily returned her to Red and let him keep her safe. Red had killed for a lot less than that. Was it possible that for the first time in their relationship, Red had lied to her?

Reaching out to stroke Melanie's hair as she wept into her palms, stomped down the anger that was building in the pit of her stomach. She could deal with that later. Right now, she was here to comfort a friend, though she barely knew how. "Melanie... we don't know what happened. Your father is a major political player with few friends and no shortage of enemies. And as far as your real father goes, Fitch is your real father. He would never leave you unprotected." Memories of Sam brought tears to Elizabeth's eyes and a small smile to her lips. The father that was there for her counted much more than the father who wasn't, and she hated to break it to Red, but she was sure that Melanie would feel the same way.

Melanie shuddered. "But he is going to leave me. He's going to die and I'm going to be all alone."

Elizabeth struggled for something to say to her friend, but was stunned into silence by the clicking of the door being shut. Red's jacket was flung over the back of her chair as he made his way past her and knelt in front of Melanie, taking her hands from her tear-streaked face and holding them in his own. Elizabeth watched, fascinated, as Melanie tried to muster a grateful smile and failed, prompting Red to give a weary smile instead. "You are not all alone. You have Lizzie and you have me," he crooned, his voice low and rough, reminding Elizabeth of all the times he had coaxed her out of her own crying jags. He reached up and sweetly brushed the tears from Melanie's eyes as if she were a small child. "And you apparently have Dembe. I don't know what you two got up to on that ride home the other night, but I've never seen him drive so fast. In fact, he's pacing the hall outside the door right now, scaring the hell out of the doctors and nurses." A small giggle escaped Melanie's lips, and Red grinned, catching Elizabeth's eyes as he recaptured Melanie's hands in his own. "Why don't you go out and speak to him for a minute?"

Melanie looked worriedly at Fitch and then back at Red, obviously not wanting to leave her father. Red caught Elizabeth's eyes once more, and she saw the urgency in them. Swallowing hard, she rubbed a hand up and down Melanie's back. "Go. It'll do you some good to get out of this room. If anything happens John and I will come get you. I promise." This seemed to pacify Melanie for a moment as she nodded and allowed Red to help her to her feet.

Taking advantage of the situation, Red leaned down and enveloped her in a hug before walking her to the door. "And I don't want you trying to sleep up here on these hard chairs." "I wasn't..." Melanie tried to protest, but Red cut her off. "I know that's what you were planning on doing, and it's not going to happen. You'll come home with us. Elizabeth's couch pulls out into the most comfortable bed. Spent more than my fair share of time testing it out." Red winked at Melanie and she folded, nodding meekly as she made her way out the door.

Elizabeth rose as Red made his way back to her, crossing her arms over her chest. "How much did you hear?"

Taking in her defensive stance, Red's lips quirked into something akin to a frown. "Enough."

"I can't believe you would take advantage of this terrible situation," Elizabeth hissed, rolling her eyes when Red furrowed his brow, feigning innocence. "You know what? Yes I can. I can totally imagine it. In fact, there are a lot of things I can totally imagine."

Red scowled, obviously aware of where this conversation was headed. "What kind of things?"

"Oh I don't know... things like shooting the man that kept your daughter from you in the head and then trying to lie your way out of it. Did you do it? Did you shoot Fitch?"