Crack in the Mask

It felt like every time they were presented with a chance for answers it was stolen out from under their noses and replaced with more questions. Christopher had only the vaguest memories of Raymond Reddington's ex wife. She had had a daughter a handful of years older than him. How many he couldn't be sure. He had always assumed the girl was Reddington's daughter as well, but he never spoke of her and Chris had heard Carla refer to the girl as her daughter at the safe house.

"Christopher."

His gaze jerked up and across the aisle of the private jet to where his mother was glaring at him, a frown firmly in place. "Care to bring your focus around?" she demanded sharply.

"Carla Reddington said she was my godmother," he said, looking her directly in the eye. He and Liz hadn't had much time to talk before they had split ways to their separate responsibilities for this op, but she had told him the few things that Carla had told her. "Why didn't I know that?"

Scottie Hargrave shrugged. "She was, once, but it's not like she stuck around. It doesn't matter, Christopher. What matters is getting your father back on this op. I need you focused."

"Hard to do when you can't trust the person running point," he answered lowly.

"That's rich coming from you. You were incapable of separating what you needed from what you wanted and-"

"Like you with your vendetta against Reddington?"

"That's different and you damn well know that."

"Funny that you went running to him as soon as it worked that way though."

"There's more at play here than you know. If you and Elizabeth had just stayed out of it none of this would have happened!" she snapped and Chris leaned forward.

"She said something about what you guys did to protect us. What did you do, Mom? What the hell are you and Reddington so terrified that we'll find out and how would Carla Reddington who's been gone more than twenty years possibly know about it? You want trust? You want honesty from me? Start giving it in return."

She sat still and stiff in her seat, legs crossed at the knees, her heel digging into the carpet under them. Her gaze was hard, but Chris didn't back down. Strange, they had been looking for answers about Liz's past and her connection to Reddington, but the more his mother clamped down, the more Christopher was becoming certain there was more to this than he could have ever dreamt.

"Scottie, Christopher, the pilot says we'll be landing in an hour. Should we go over everything one last time?"

Chris finally broke eye contact to look at Nez.

"We should," Scottie answered.

Nez looked between them and purses her lips. "I'll get Burks and Hernandez."

"Christopher."

He looked back around and there was a crack in his mother's mask. If it was a calculated crack or not, he couldn't be sure, but her expression had softened. "What I do - anything I've done - is to protect you. You are my whole world. Know that."

His voice caught in his throats and just as quickly as the moment had come it was gone again as his Grey Matters teammates joined them. It was time to put it away for the time being. They had a job to do.

Notes: So, how did everyone like Redemption? Personally, I loved it. :D