Hi guys, so in this chapter there is some talk of seizures (um… trigger warning?). The episode never explains what is actually happening to Lizzie while Dr. Orchard is with her but to me, it looks like lucid seizures …I have epilepsy so I promise it's an actual thing. There are all different kinds but basically it's where you're wide awake and well, lucid, but your body is doing something that you have no control over. You're just… watching it happen. It could be twitches, spasms, full contractions of your muscles. It could even be something as small as a twitch of the cheek. So again, I'm not completely sure that is what was happening to Liz but due to the rather brain altering affect the mentioned drugs had, I don't think it's too far off base.


Don groaned as he turned over onto his side, coughing. His ears were ringing and the world refused to come into focus. The sound of rattling chains and choked gasps entered his ears as if through a distant tunnel. He slowly turned his head towards the sound to see Samar still hung up, her body twitching as the lack of oxygen began to cause involuntary tremors.

The world suddenly sped past him, back into real-time and snapped back to reality as a surge of adrenaline coursed through him.

"Hang on, hang on!" He shouted as he jumped up and ran over to her. "You're not gonna die today. Hang on." Ressler took his Swiss army knife out of his jacket pocket and quickly cut off the zip ties around Samar's wrists. Her hands immediately flew up to her neck, grappling at the chains around her neck in an attempt to loosen them. Her gasps for air became a little clearer but he knew she wasn't out of the woods yet. She was lucky her neck hadn't snapped.

Ressler climbed onto the beam which was acting as a counter weight and keeping Samar in the air. Climbing closer, he quickly found the issue and cut the cable to the mechanism that the thugs had used to raise and lower their chain link nooses up and down. The moment the cable was cut, Samar crumpled to the ground, coughing and sputtering. Don jumped down from the beam and skidded over to her on his knees. Lifting her into his arms so she sat in his lap, he rubbed her back as she tried to breathe. "Okay, okay. Come here."

Her only response was a cough.

Ressler grunted as he helped her to her feet. He didn't know what the hell had hit them but he knew that they had to get off this rig. "Okay? All right. Let's get the hell out of here. Come on, come on." He encouraged as he tried to move forward, his arms tight around Samar's waist as she stumbled forward.

/\/\/\/\/\

With a groan, Red heaved himself up off the floor with the aid of one of the center consoles of the control room. He looked around him, his heart in his throat as his eyes confirmed what he already knew. Lizzie and Braxton were gone. The bastard had taken her.

Red swung his head back and forth, assessing the carnage of the room – wires and steel beams hanging from the ceiling, small fires spattered across the room, sparks sporadically emitting from the computers. At the sight of a motionless man on the ground, Red staggered forward. He rummaged through the man's pockets and sighed as he took out a cell phone. Flipping it open, he smiled grimly when he found that it had plenty of battery life in it. Pocketing it, he looked around for anything else useful. At the sound of radio static, he lifted the man's body slightly and nodded. A radio. That could come in handy.

/\/\/\/\/\

Red spun on his heel at the sound of approaching footsteps. When Agents Ressler and Navabi rounded the corner and crossed the threshold of the room, Red let out a little sigh of relief.

"Reddington! Where's Liz?" Ressler questioned with a grunt, leading Samar over to an overturned chair. Quickly righting it, he helped her settle in.

"Braxton took her." Red stated darkly.

Don stared at him for a moment, swallowing thickly before nodding resolutely. Now was not the time to lose his shit. He knew that. Didn't make it easy though. "Are any of these comms working?" He questioned shakily.

Red swung his eyes towards the radio he had hanging amongst a sea of copper wiring, some of which was wrapped around its small antenna.

"That walkie has a range of a thousand yards at the most." Samar pointed out, her voice hoarse.

"Unassisted, yeah, but a dipole antenna array will boost the signal." Ressler reasoned.

Red raised an impressed brow before getting back to work among the wiring, attempting to boost the signal. "This rig is sinking. If we can't make contact, anyone here who doesn't burn is gonna drown."

Ressler nodded. "You said Braxton took Liz. Why?"

/\/\/\/\/\

Lizzie woke up, her head pounding along with the rhythmic beatings of the helicopter blades. Looking to her left, she saw a jacket with an ambulatory emblem on it. "Where am I? Where are Agents Ressler and Navabi? Did they make it?"

"Don't know. Don't care." Lizzie's eyes widened in horror at the sound of Braxton's voice. He was definitely not there to rescue her. "How does it feel to have something people are willing to die for locked up in that pretty little head of yours?"

So he thought the information was locked away in her head. That could be useful. Swinging her head towards him, she blinked owlishly. "I don't know anything." She stammered.

Braxton smiled grimly down at her. "We'll see."

/\/\/\/\/\

Lizzie's head was on a swivel as she was rolled through the halls of a hospital. They'd just landed on their Med Evac flight pad and taken an elevator down several floors.

"Look, I don't know who gave you clearance to land, but we're closed to traum –"

"He's got a g –" One of Braxton's thugs covered Lizzie's mouth just as Braxton pulled his gun on the Doctor who tried to barr their entry.

/\/\/\/\/\

Everyone's heads swung upwards at the distinct sound of helicopter blades.

Ressler looked over at Samar then over at Red, a grin on his face. "Cooper sent in the cavalry."

Within seconds, the radio crackled. " - We're on final approach. We need a head count on survivors."

Ressler ran over to the walkie and pressed the button to speak. "Helo Two. Helo Two. Emergency message, plus three."

Don spun around at the sound of a gun cocking to find the middle eastern asshole who took pleasure in watching the other agent hang in the air like a marionette had a gun trained on Reddington's chest. "You're not going anywhere." The asshole threatened.

They all flinched at the sound of a gun shot. As the thug fell to the floor, they looked to the door. Red grinned at the sight of the guard – Desmond.

"Let's go." The guard offered as he cocked his gun.

/\/\/\/\/\

She couldn't gasp. She couldn't breathe. She was drowning. She was going to die.

There was a sudden reprieve. The water stopped cascading over her face and the cloth was removed from over her face. As the board she was strapped to was raised so that she was no longer hanging by her feet and was now parallel to the floor, Lizzie immediately tilted her head to the side, coughing up water and gasping.

She continued to take in as many lungs full of air as she possibly could, knowing it was a limited commodity for her at the moment. As she slowly became aware of things beyond her dire need for oxygen, Lizzie heard the sound of heavy boots echoing across the tiled floor – a pool. She was in the bottom of an empty indoor pool.

"I'm hitting a wall." She recognized the voice of her interrogator.

"She'll talk."

"Oh, no. She's talking. Told me everything she remembered, which is nothing." That's what you think, you piece of shit. I hope my Dad saves you for last.

"You saying she wasn't there?"

Lizzie tried to keep quiet as she tested the straps around her arms. Unfortunately, they were thick leather straps buckled tightly around her wrists.

"I'm saying if she was there, she's repressed her memory – buried it so deep that I can't even get her to talk about it."

After a silent moment, Lizzie heard two sets of boots walking slowly down the stairs of the pool before Braxton and her "interrogator" came into her line of vision. Braxton stared down at her for a moment before his hand darted out, smashing into her face. Lizzie's head whipped to the side with a crack. He had hit her in the same place he had at the prison. "The Fulcrum. Where is it?" He questioned.

Lizzie merely coughed, spitting out some more water, now tinged with the iron tang of blood.

Braxton let out a huff of breath of amusement out of his nose. "I envy you – your ability to block a horrible memory." He paused. "I needed help to do that. Lucky for me, the person who helped me forget is gonna help you remember."

/\/\/\/\/\

Braxton stood beside Liz with a pretty, professional looking woman. Lizzie tracked the conversation and the movements of the people around her with her one good eye – the other having swollen shut.

"The princess here has something in her head that I want. It's a memory. Now, you helped make all my memories go away. You made Khafji disappear. Boom!" Braxton gasped dramatically. "Just like a magic trick. I'm thinking, if you were able to bury one of my memories, then you can retrieve some of hers."

The dark skinned woman's hair swayed against her shoulders as she shook her head. "No. It's not that simple."

Braxton's pocket beeped and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket and pressed the button to accept a chat. He held the phone out to the woman and, though Lizzie couldn't get a view of it, she assumed it was a video call as the woman clutched at the phone, her eyes roaming over the screen desperately.

"Mom, they- they said they won't hurt me if you do what they say, so please, mom, plea–" The sound of the little boy's voice was abruptly cut off.

"Max!" The woman cried out as Braxton placed the phone back in his pocket. "Don't hurt him. Don't you hurt him." The woman begged.

Lizzie had to get their attention focused back on her. "Guys, there are people looking for me. If they find me, they'll find you."

Her interrogator suddenly inverted the board Lizzie lay on and covered her face with the wet towel once more. Within moments she was gasping, choking as he poured water over her mouth and nose.

/\/\/\/\/\

"Sebastian, brother. I didn't think you made it out." Braxton answered the phone.

"He didn't. I did." Red stated grimly from where he sat in an FBI vehicle, on the tarmac of an airport. They'd just been flown out by the rescue team and had made a pit stop in Juneau, Alaska before heading out once more. The side of Red's face itched with the drying blood but he couldn't spare it a thought.

Braxton laughed as realization dawned. "Oh, man. This is just like Belgrade, huh, boyo? Whatever you want, I get."

Red shook his head. "This is nothing like Belgrade."

"What was the name of that kid? You know, the one you had running point? I wish I could have been there when you opened that closet door and found him hanging by your necktie."

"His name was Henkel."

"Henkel! That's right. Kid was a talker."

"You're out of your depth, Luther. You don't know the people you're dealing with. You're a fine thief – meticulous and careful – but this is different. You're improvising, and you and I both know thinking on your feet is not your strong suit, Luther." Red watched from the SUV's window as Agents Navabi and Ressler were allowed to leave the ambulances where they'd been getting general first aid. Red had refused treatment. He had things to do. "You will make a mistake, and when you do, I will be there to indulge in the undeniable pleasure and sweet satisfaction of 'I told you so.'"

Braxton was quiet on the other line for a moment before speaking. "Well, you better hurry. 'Cause your girl, the princess, she's got the answers in her head that I'm looking for, and I found a way to get them out."

Red's eye twitched and he drew the phone away from his ear, staring at it in frustration as it beeped signaling that Braxton had hung up. The son of a bitch.

Red lifted his head at the sound of the car door opening and frowned grimly as Agent Navabi climbed into the car, a shock blanket around her shoulders.

"I spoke with Cooper. The Coast Guard pilots who transported us are being debriefed. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you are presumed missing."

Red nodded decisively. "You need to look for any known associates of Braxton's with psychiatric medical training – neurologists, psychiatrists, pharmacologists –"

Samar shook her head, her eyes fluttering in confusion. "Wait. Slow down."

Red sighed, frustrated. He felt bad for Agent Navabi's plight. Truly he did. He knew she'd been through a lot that day. But he needed to find Lizzie. He needed the agents in top form, which Agent Navabi was not at the moment. "Braxton is trying to extract a memory from Agent Keen. He will do so by any means necessary. He's likely contacted someone for that purpose already. Find out who that someone is."

Samar's brow furrowed. "What memory?"

Red pursed his lips and looked out the window as Donald climbed into the front passenger seat. "A memory I had hoped she'd never have to remember." He murmured as the nameless agent in the driver's seat started the SUV.

Donald turned in his seat to look at Red as they drove away. "What's Braxton like? What…what do you think he's doing to Liz to get this memory from her?" He questioned quietly, hesitantly.

Red stared at Donald for a moment. "Donald, you don't need to – "

"Don't tell me what I need or don't need to know!" Ressler bit out. "That asshole has my girlfriend – the mother of my son!" Ressler panted angrily, closing his eyes. "I need to know what we'll be dealing with, how to help her."

"There's no way of knowing that until we find her, Donald." Red murmured.

"You know this guy, Red. What's he likely to do?"

Red sighed, looking out the window before glancing back at Donald. "I imagine he's already tortured her to get what he wants. She won't give him what he wants. She knows plenty but she won't give it to him."

"How do you know? Keen has never gone through any sort of interrogation training." Agent Navabi questioned.

Red pursed her lips. "Yes, she has."

The SUV was silent as the implications quickly dawned on the agents.

"You tortured your own daughter?" Donald asked, horrified.

Red's eyes hardened as he gazed at his daughter's partner. Before he could answer, however, Agent Navabi cut in.

"Wait – I'm sorry… daughter?!"

Donald winced and gave Red an apologetic look.

Red rolled his eyes, resting his head against the headrest behind him with a muted thump. "Well Agent Navabi, looks like we'll be bringing you up to speed on all the latest gossip once this is all over."

/\/\/\/\/\

Cooper looked up from his desk as Samar and Ressler walked into his office.

"Welcome back." He said with a gentle smile.

Both agents smiled back at him. Ressler opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted as Aram came rushing into the room.

"Sir, sir, I think I found a doctor with a connection to Braxton." At Cooper's bemused expression, Aram finally looked around him, his eyes freezing as he took in Samar. "You're safe." He whispered as if to himself before springing towards her, wrapping Samar in a giant hug. Don and Cooper shared an amused glance as Samar awkwardly hugged Aram back, finally seeming to relax into it after a moment.

Soon enough, Aram pulled back and gave an awkward cough. "Uh, w– uh, what about Mr. Reddington?" He asked, looking around as if Reddington would pop out at any second.

"He's, uh," Samar's eyes shifted toward Cooper " - pursuing his own leads." They all knew what that meant. They'd have a body count to sweep under the rug. And since it was Liz that was in trouble, none of them could really bring themselves to be too upset about it.

Cooper cleared his throat. "Aram, the doctor?" He questioned, bringing the conversation back into focus.

Aram startled, having been lost in thought. "Yes, right. Uh, sorry. Okay. Her name is Dr. Selma Orchard. She's an attending in neurology at Walter Reed and was part of a team that discovered a gene that makes it possible to erase memories."

Cooper's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry. Erase memories?"

"Yeah, the gene is known as TET1, and it's critical to a process called memory extinction, where painful events are replaced with more positive associations. She was at Walter Reed."

"Was Braxton a soldier there?" Ressler spoke up.

Aram nodded as he opened a folder, spreading it out across Cooper's desk so the man could see it. "First Gulf War. He was part of a friendly fire incident with multiple casualties in Khafji. I assume he brought this home with him. Orchard must have treated him at some point for this."

Cooper looked up from the dossier and over towards Samar and Don. "Selma Orchard – Find her now."

/\/\/\/\/\

Liz had been upgraded from the wooden inversion table to a leather cushioned chair that looked like it'd been stolen from a Dentist's office. Circumstances being what they were, it probably was. The chair was comfortable, but it didn't bring her comfort.

"It's called recovered memory therapy." The woman – whom Lizzie now knew was Dr. Orchard – explained. "I'm going to use a combination of hypnotherapy and pharmaceuticals to put you into a lucid, waking dream state. My field is in blocking trauma. Extracting it, "She hesitated. " there are probable risks."

Lizzie swallowed as she watched the woman fill a syringe. "You don't have to do this." She whispered.

Orchard looked away from Liz, up towards the top of the pool where Braxton and his men stood watching. "I'm going to give you a sedative. The mind turns things off for a reason. I found that what the mind fights, the body tries to fight, too. I need you relaxed." She began depressing the contents of the syringe into Liz's IV line. Lizzie watched in fear, rocking back and forth in a futile attempt at getting away. "This is for your own safety. He told me I need to take you back to a fire 26 years ago."

Lizzie whimpered and closed her eyes tightly as she shook her head. "I don't want to go back." She sobbed.

"I'm sorry." Dr. Orchard whispered brokenly.

/\/\/\/\/\

Ressler walked into the living room and over towards where Samar stood, drowning out the chaotic noise of a crime scene investigation. "PD says there's no sign of forced entry or foul play, but Orchard never showed up for work."

Samar nodded, her eyes darting toward a sudden burst of police radio chatter from a group of cops standing off to the side before focusing back on Ressler. "I just got off the phone with the boy's school. He never showed up, either."

Ressler's lips thinned. "Braxton has them."

/\/\/\/\/\

"Elizabeth, I want you to close your eyes. Now I want you to relax all of the muscles in your body. Pretend that you can float. As you float, all of the tension leaves your body. Tension floats, too, but it floats away from you. Now I want you to breathe in… and out."

Lizzie did as she was instructed. It was easy to float. Her body felt so light, she wasn't sure if she was floating or flying. It didn't really matter. It was lovely.

"Good." The nice lady whispered in her ear. "All of the tension is floating away. You can't even feel it anymore. All you can feel is yourself, making the image of yourself clearer and clearer. Focus on that image of yourself. Only it's not you today. It's you 26 years ago. You can almost picture her, that little girl. I'm gonna ask the little girl to open her eyes. Are you ready? Three two one. … What do you see?"

"A little girl hiding." Lizzie murmured.

"Okay, stay here, sweetie. No matter what happens, you need to stay here and not come out until I come get you. Understand?" A man was talking to her. She knew that voice.

"Are you with her?" The nice doctor asked her.

"Yes."

"Where is she?" A woman – her voice vaguely familiar like the man's – questioned.

Lizzie looked down at the little girl she was hiding in the closet with and noticed her petting a rabbit. "Hey, what's your bunny's name?" She asked, trying to focus on a fixed point as the world around her sometimes shook. She felt as if the whole world tremored to the beat of her heart.

"I'm not leaving without Masha." The woman stated angrily. "Masha!"

"She's not going back with you."

Lizzie rested a hand on the little girl's shoulder as she whimpered. "I know you're scared, but it's okay. Lizzie? Can you hear me?" The little girl held out her hand and Lizzie grasped it in both of her own, kissing the little fingers as if to reassure her.

/\/\/\/\/\

Red walked into the restaurant where his people had assembled several of Braxton's known associates and buyers. He walked over to the large round table the all sat at, his coat billowing around him. "Thank you for coming on such short notice." He greeted as he palmed his fedora, clasping his hands in front of him, holding his fedora with his thumb. Red looked around at the many faces in front of him and smiled grimly.

"Time is of the essence, so I'll skip introductions." Red paused to give a caricature pleasant smile. "I've asked you all here because you all have one thing in common – you all have business with Luther Braxton. As rewarding as those relationships may have been, they've come to an end." Red finished his sentence with a grim note. "Mr. Braxton has started something he cannot finish. He'll likely reach out to one of you for help. When he does, you will contact me at the number I have provided. Questions? Good." Red spun on his heel, deftly placing his fedora back on his head as he walked away.

"What's in it for us?" One of the men called out.

Red turned back around towards him and gave him a hard stare. "Life."

/\/\/\/\/\

Lizzie could feel her muscles contracting. She grunted in pain and exhaustion as they continued to tense and release. She felt as if she'd been climbing for hours but it had been mere minutes since Dr. Orchard had drawn her out of the session when the lucid seizures had begun.

"This is not gonna work like this." The Doctor stated, gazing at Braxton over Lizzie's head. "These drugs, she could become hypertensive, develop an arrhythmia."

"I gave you everything you asked for." Braxton argued.

Lizzie could see the other woman shake her head out of the corner of her eye as she tried to force her body to relax to no avail. "Well, we should have an anesthesiologist or an ER doc here to titrate her meds. I told you there are risks."

"Well, then take the risks. It's either her or your boy."

There was a quiet moment before Lizzie heard a metallic tinkle beside her head – Dr. Orchard was picking up something from the tray. Lizzie gasped at the sudden burning cold that shot down her veins before sighing as she began to fly again.

/\/\/\/\

"What's happening, Elizabeth? Tell me."

"They're shouting." Lizzie slurred. Something was different. She was more aware of herself – not just her dream self, but her surroundings as well – of Braxton and Dr. Orchard. It was like that one time when she'd gone to Niagra Falls with Sam. She'd stood in the middle of the bridge, one leg in Canada and one leg in New York. She was in both places simultaneously.

"Who? What are they saying?"

"Where is she?!" Lizzie could feel the restraints around her arms tighten as she lurched forward in the chair, her voice deepening as she shouted. But it wasn't her voice, it was his.

"Listen, you're in trouble." Lizzie could hear the woman say through the slated panels of the closet.

"Because of you!" He shouted.

"Don't be afraid." Lizzie murmured to the little girl as she began to shake.

"You told her." The man accused.

"Yes, I did. I told her."

"Come on!" The little girl suddenly sprang up and ran towards the back of the closet. Only… it wasn't. "Wait!" Lizzie called out as she gave chase, the hanging coats and scarves gave way to pine trees and falling snow. "Come on! Lizzie. Come on." The little girl laughed. Except she wasn't so little anymore. She was maybe eight now. Wearing a winter coat and a scarf as she chased after her little white rabbit.

* dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh – o'er the fields we go *

"Come on!"

* laughing all the way * They both laugh as they race through the rows of trees.

"Wh-where'd he go? Where'd he go?" Lizzie asked as they looked around them, searching for the rabbit.

"I don't know."

Lizzie knew she was laughing as she sat in the bottom of the empty pool.

"What's happening?" She could sense Braxton's agitation.

"She might be having a tangent memory. Her brain is trying to replace a bad memory with a good one."

"Over there! Here!" The little girl shouted excitedly.

Lizzie got the sudden urge to dash. "Catch me!" She yelled.

* jingle bells, jingle bells – jingle all the way *

Lizzie came to a halt as the figure of a man stepped out from between the trees. "Lizzie."

* oh, what fun it is to ride *

The little girl ran up to the man, hugging him around his waist. The man bent forward to pick her up. "Lizzie, wait!" She cried out as she disappeared.

*in a one-horse open sleigh *

She was back in the closet, watching as the man lowered the little girl off his hip, into the closet. She gasped.

"What is it? What do you see?"

"Stay… here." Lizzie's voice was deep again. "Don't go…anywhere."

They were shouting. She couldn't understand them. She sat on the floor of the closet with her knees drawn up to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible.

"What are they fighting about?"

The little girl put her index finger to her lips with one hand while the other clutched at her rabbit. "It's a secret." She whispered.

"Who's Masha?"

"You are."

Lizzie's brow furrowed and she lunged for the door.

"Don't go out there!" The little girl shouted, her little hands grasping at Lizzie's shirt."You can't go out there."

The hallway was shrinking. It seemed to stretch each time she took a step. The further she walked, the further she had to hunch over in order to fit until she was crawling.

She froze, one hand raised in front of her as she was on her knees. The little girl stood in front of her and Lizzie had to crane her neck to look up at her. "Turn around, Lizzie! Go back!"

The hallway was large again. She was standing up. "No! No!" The little girl clutched at Lizzie's hand. "Don't! He said not to come out!"

The little girl screamed shrilly and Lizzie turned just in time to see her running in the opposite direction, disappearing around a corner behind her. Lizzie continued walking, a window was in front of her, the wind billowing the sheer curtains.

She couldn't breathe. Her back arched. She gasped. Her arms burned as her body fought against the restraints. She could hear monitors beeping loudly.

"Okay, we're done. Her blood pressure's through the roof. She's in v-tach. She needs lidocaine."

Lizzie could hear animalistic grunting. Distantly, she knew it was her as he body refused to cooperate with her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You won't find what you're looking for if she's dead."

"Daddy!" Lizzie cried.

/\/\/\/\

Red walked back into the restaurant, back over to the table. "What have you got?" Red inquired, distantly noting that the man sitting in front of him was the same man who asked what he'd be getting in return.

"Braxton contacted me right after you left." The man with silvered side burns stated, sliding a tablet across the table.

Red looked down at the gadget dispassionately. "What's this?"

The man smirked. "Wiring instructions to an offshore account. I'm not giving you this information. I'm selling it."

Red gave the man a hard stare. "Let me clarify the situation. Braxton is holding a hostage. I want her back. Every second you waste reduces the chances of that happening."

The man gave a small smile. "I appreciate your urgency."

"I don't think you do." Red intoned darkly.

"But I'm not telling you anything until we agree on a price." He continued.

/\/\/\/\

Ressler watched Samar walk up to him where he stood next to their SUV. They were currently canvassing a neighborhood where someone had sighted Braxton meeting with associates. "I have units covering the southwest sector, so start at the north end of the 700 block and work your way back." Samar said as she stopped in front of him. "Anything?"

Ressler nodded. "Two eyewitnesses confirm Braxton met with a Wilson Bishop. I had Aram run his profile. Turns out he's a third-year med student at Johns Hopkins."

Samar's brow furrowed. "What does Braxton want with a med student?"

/\/\/\/\

"Your son, what's his name?" Lizzie asked, her voice hoarse.

Dr Orchard glanced over at her then went back to checking Lizzie's vitals. "His name is Max. He's nine years old."

Lizzie sighed as her mind went to Sammy. God, she missed him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

In the dream, you said he there was a man?

Lizzie nodded. "The girl, she called him 'Daddy.' But I know… I know he's not." She swallowed heavily.

"Did you see anything else or hear anything else?"

Liz shook her head. "The little girl stopped me. It's like she has some kind of a secret." Lizzie turned to look at Dr. Orchard, her brow furrowed in vexation. "But I'm the girl."

Dr Orchard smiled kindly at her. "The girl's a piece of your subconscious trying to prevent you from becoming aware of what happened that night."

Lizzie shook her head against the headrest of the chair. "I have no recollection of my mother or…him – not their faces, nothing." She paused with a sigh. "All I know is that I got this – " Lizzie held up her scarred wrist. " – that night."

/\/\/\/\/\

The man looked up at Red with another of his stupid little smirks. "You can relax. An extra 15 seconds won't make a difference either way."

Both men looked down as the tablet chirped. "It's done." Stated Captain Obvious.

Red raised a brow at the man. "Speak." He ordered.

The man's lips pursed, taking offense to Red's tone. "He needed a place to meet someone, someplace out of the way."

"The address?"

The man handed Red a small card. He glanced at it before stretching his arm out, handing it over to Dembe. The moment the card was out of his hand, Red struck. His fist pummeled the man's face in the most… satisfactory manner. Once. Twice. Three times. He paused, the man grunted. Fourth for good measure.

Red shook out his hand, looking at his bloodied knuckles dispassionately. "You're right. An extra 15 seconds probably won't change anything, hmm?" Red punched him in the nose once more then walked away.

/\/\/\/\/\

A cell phone rang on the tray beside them. Dr. Orchard didn't hesitate.

"Yes?" She answered, putting the phone on speaker.

"Mom? Mommy?" Lizzie could hear the voice of a young boy.

"Max!" Dr. Orchard cried out happily.

"Mom?"

"Max, hi. Are you okay, baby? Where are you? Everything's gonna be okay. I love you."

"I love you."

There was a shuffle on the other end of the line. "You have till 9:00. If I don't find out what the agent knows by then, you'll never see your boy again." Braxton's voice came over the speaker before silence.

"Wait. Wait! Damn it!"

/\/\/\/\

"It's gonna be fine." Lizzie reassured.

Orchard shook her head, licking her top lip nervously. "It's too dangerous."

Lizzie waited until the woman was looking her in the eye before she spoke. "Something happened that night, something people are willing to kill to find out, and whatever it was involved me. I'm not doing this for Braxton or for you. I'm doing it for me. I need to know the truth."

/\/\/\/\/\

"Nah, we're gonna get the intel out of that girl's head, even if I got to drill a hole in her skull and hang her upside down. All right. Will do."

Red could hear him on his phone. He was talking about Lizzie. His Lizzie.

Red watched from where he sat on the steps up to the old church as the man turned the corner of the stone courtyard. The moment Braxton noticed him sitting there, his legs crossed as if he hadn't a care in the world, the man stopped in his tracks.

Red smiled, showing his teeth, as Dembe came up behind the man, cocking his gun to announce his presence. Sighing in defeat, Braxton put his hands up and Dembe was quick to relieve him of his weapon.

Noticing the man's eyes shifting, Red smiled at him once more. "If you're looking for your driver, he's napping in the trunk." Red pointed with his pistol to the black sedan that was idling a few feet away from him.

Dembe urged Braxton forward by placing his gun between the man's shoulder blades. The man willingly walked forward, toward Red. "Son of a bitch." Braxton murmured, a small defeated smile on his face as he scratched his chin.

"Luther, I never thought I'd enjoy having anything in my mouth as much as Petty Officer Virginia Sherman, but this – " Red leaned back with a laugh. "My God! It tastes so good! I hesitate to swallow, and I certainly don't want to spit it out. Oh, what the hell. I told you so." The smile was wiped off of Red's face as he grew solemn. "Elizabeth Keen. Where is she?"

Braxton smiled. "I don't know. Maybe she's dead. Maybe you're too late, boyo. Just like you were for, uh, Henkel in Belgrade."

Red shook his head, a bemused frown on his face. "Can I let you in on a little secret about Belgrade? I barely remember it. I'd forgotten all about the Deutsche marks, and I don't think I ever even met Henkel. Tell you the truth – I don't think his name was Henkel." Red shrugged. "I don't know who the hell he was, but this – this, I can promise you, I will always remember." Red stood up from where he'd been sitting, his face now centimeters from Braxton's. Now get in the damn car."

/\/\/\/\/\

"Elizabeth, can you hear me? Nod if you can hear me. Good. Now follow my voice and tell me where you are."

"The closet." It was Lizzie but it wasn't. It was little Lizzie that replied. Her high pitched voice at odds with Lizzie's grown body.

"What's happening?"

Lizzie listened from where she sat in the closet. "They'll kill you if you don't give it back to them." The woman shouted.

"They'll kill me if I do." The man replied angrily.

"They're arguing."

"What are they arguing about?"

"Did you really think I'd let it happen? Did you really think I wouldn't do everything – "

"Hey, you know what? …. It's the only thing keeping me alive."

/\/\/\/\/\

The door chimed as Samar and Ressler walked into the small drug store. The police officers with them kindly took up guard duty in front of the door.

"Wilson Bishop, FBI."

The young man behind the counter sidled out from behind it, a poor attempt at being nonchalant as he tried to make his way toward a back door. Ressler gave him no such opportunity. "Come here. Come here!" He yelled, surging forward and putting the man in a headlock. .

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. What are you doing, man? What are you doing?"

Both men grunted as Bishop fought against Ressler's hold, slamming his fists into Don's arm.

"Luther Braxton." Ressler barked. "We know you met with him."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ressler tightened his grip around the man's throat as Samar watched.

"You're a resident at a hospital with access to all kinds of psycho-pharmaceuticals. We know you sold to him. He kidnapped an FBI agent." Samar stated.

Bishop froze as if forgetting for a moment that he was trying to fight Don's grasp. "I don't know anything about a kidnapping."

"He's gonna use your drugs on that agent. She dies …" Don was unable to finish the sentence, only tighten his grip.

"He wanted diazoxide. Naloxone–" Bishop gave a cross between a grunt and a cough.

"Where is he?" Samar yelled.

"He had me deliver equipment …"

"An address?!"

"… for sedations."

/\/\/\/\/\

"Braxton, call me back. Where the hell are you?" Red walked up behind the man who'd been speaking on his cell phone. Reaching his arms up, Red planted one hand on the man's chin and the other on the back of his head and twisted. The man's neck snapped with a satisfying crunch. Red allowed the man's body to flop to the group.

Red followed Dembe into the pool room. Dembe shot the first guard, a man guarding the entrance. Red took out the two standing beside the doctor and Lizzie. One blink. Two. They fell. It happened so quickly, the doctor's screams were a bit belated as her body caught up with what she'd just witnessed.

The woman continued screaming as Red hurried down the steps of the pool.

"Is she okay?" Red sighed, impatient with the woman's hysteria. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Is she okay?"

/\/\/\/\/\

"Aram, we found Wilson Bishop. We're en route, and we need you to send units to Coal Chute and Spring." Samar shouted into her cell phone over the blaring sirens as they sped down the road. She glanced over at Ressler as his cellphone began ringing.

Ressler looked at his caller ID and immediately picked it up.

"Donald. I have information regarding Lizzie's abductor."

"We're on our way to her now. We're 10 minutes out.

"Well, Braxton was holding a young boy. His name is Max Orchard. My people have secured the boy, but you need to send a unit. Dembe will give you the address."

Ressler swore as Red hung up on him. The least the asshole could do was tell him if he was with Liz. Tell him she was okay.

/\/\/\/\

"Max is my son." The Doctor stated shakily, her eyes like glass.

Red nodded, his eyes gentle. "The FBI are on their way to him now." He murmured as he picked up Lizzie's hand in both of his own, kissing her palm softly before touching it to his cheek.

"She's still heavily sedated."

"What happened?" Red questioned gruffly.

"But my son – Max."

Red frowned. "Your son is gonna be fine." He said, his voice hardening. He needed her to focus. "Tell me about Agent Keen."

Orchard let out a tremulous sigh. "She was undergoing a procedure called RM Therapy. Braxton was searching for a memory."

Red rolled his tongue as his eye began to twitch. "Does she remember the past?"

"Pieces." Dr. Orchard murmured with a shrug.

"What pieces?" Red demanded, his harsh voice incongruous with the gentle way he caressed Lizzie's cheek, tucked her hair behind her ear. He need to touch her, to make sure she was okay. His sight kept honing in on the bruising around her face, her still moistened hair.

Braxton was going to pay. No one hurt his Sunshine.

Red began undoing Lizzie's restraints. First her arms, then her legs.

"A fire, an argument."

They both looked down at a sudden loud thump. Lizzie's back arched and Red stood up so quickly from the chair he'd been sitting on, that it hit the ground with a clang.

"Lizzie!" He shouted fearfully, clutching at her shoulders, trying to keep her from falling out of the chair.

"She shouldn't still be dreaming! I thought I gave her the correct dosage to get her out!"

"Well obviously you were wrong!" He yelled over Lizzie's unintelligible screams.

"Take her to– I need you to tell me where it is." Lizzie shouted, but it wasn't Lizzie. It was him.

"Let me go! Get away from me!"

Red choked on a sob at the sound of such a childish voice coming from his daughter's mouth. "Shh, shh, shh! You don't want to see this." He bent forward, murmuring in her ear. He knew what she was seeing. What she was about to see.

Lizzie gasped. There was a man standing in front of her, blocking her view. She couldn't see down the hallway. "Lizzie, turn around. Go back." She knew that voice. It was her daddy.

"Stop! You don't want to go in there." The woman yelled.

"Get away! Lizzie, turn around and go back." Her daddy begged her. He begged her from two places. He was there in the hallway, but she could feel him above her, grasping her arms as she sat in the chair.

"Go back, go back."

"Let go!" Lizzie screamed.

There was a gunshot.

Lizzie screamed and curled into a fetal position, rocking back and forth. "What happened? What'd she see?" Red looked to Dr. Orchard, his eyes blazing with panic.

"Listen to me. You have to say something. There's a fire." Lizzie said desperately to the little girl, clutching her shoulders. "I know you saw something out there and you don't want to go out there" Lizzie's voice broke. "But you can't stay here! You have to scream! Do you hear me? As loud as you can, you have to scream! You have to– " Lizzie screamed and the little girl began to scream as well.

"Hey! Hey. What the hell are you doing to her? What are you doing? Get her up. Wake her up now."

Red ignored the sudden chaos around him, ignored Donald making his way down the stairs toward them.

"Not now." Dr. Orchard argued.

"Reddington. Reddington!" Ressler tried to get his attention, thankfully, the man had enough sense to stand back.

"It's not safe!" The Doctor shouted.

"Wake her up now." Ressler demanded, taking a step forward.

"Wait. Not now."

"You do what you have to do. You do it now!" Red was going to kill the little shit.

"Wait."

/\/\/\/\/\

A man slowly dragged himself up off the floor as the fire raged around them. It was so hot.

"Daddy! Please!"

He's reaching out his hand toward her. They're outside, by the kitchen window. Her daddy is on the ground, moaning. Her wrist hurts. Four shadows leave the house.

Lizzie's eyes flew open with a gasp. She looked around wildly, blindly, her body rigid. A blur in front of her soon sharpened into focus, morphing into her father. "Daddy!" She cried brokenly.

"Shh!" Red leaned over her and wrapped his arms around her as best he could as she sobbed, kissing her brow. "It's okay, you're okay now. I promise, Sweetheart."

Her dad continued to murmur softly to her as Lizzie sobbed. Distantly, she was aware of the room clearing out, of Don sitting down beside her, taking her hand.

"You're alright. Nothing will hurt you, I promise." Red murmured fiercely.

/\/\/\/\/\

"Mm-hmm. I'm meeting with Braxton within the hour. Yes, of course I've discussed contingencies regarding Reddington with all of our colleagues." The man talked on his phone as he walked into his home. Looking around his living room, he noticed a large workman's boot on the floor. His eyes slowly tracked upward to the body of Luther Braxton, hanging from the dining room archway. "I'm going to have to call you back." The man murmured before ending the call.

"You wouldn't believe how much he weighs." Red said jovially as he walked out of the shadows. "Sit." Red offered the man a seat in his own home as he made himself comfortable in one of the wingback chairs.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" The Director questioned as he remained standing.

Red chuckled. "Yes. I know just what you are." He pulled his pistol out of his suit jacket. "Sit the hell down."

The Director slowly lowered himself into a seat. "I've alerted security."

Red nodded, his eyes laughing. "You seem younger in person than you appear to be when lurking in the background on television. Are you a swimmer?" Red questioned with a chuckle.

The Director raised a brow. "I'm someone not to be trifled with."

"Mm. Then we have something in common. You hire a simple thief to find the Fulcrum because you believe I don't have it. So I return him to you, defects and all, - " Red waved his gun at Braxton's body. " – to make it abundantly clear that you should never again doubt who I am and what I have."

"I know exactly who you are. A thug." The Director stated bitingly. "You may have convinced some of my colleagues that you are a force to be reckoned with, but I do not share that assessment. So consider yourself warned. We will not hesitate to use every resource at our disposal. Whatever it takes we will cripple you."

Red leaned forward in his chair. "I don't think you have any real comprehension of the depth and breadth of your vulnerability." He uttered darkly. "But only the one who possesses the Fulcrum could possibly fathom that."

"I think you're bluffing. I don't think you have it. I don't think you ever did."

"Try me. Call my bluff. Please. Call my bluff." Red stared at the Director, his face rigid.

Then, he suddenly sprang up, out of his chair with a chuckle. "Oh, my God." He murmured, shaking his head as he looked up at Braxton's body. "I don't know what the hell you're gonna do with him. Honestly, he's like a damn side of beef."

/\/\/\/\/\

"This morning, there was an attempted takeover of a US detention camp in the Norton Sound. We believe that the timing of this uprising was set to coincide with the transfer of international fugitive Raymond Reddington."

Red and Lizzie watched as the female CIA agent – Goodson – gave a press conference.

"Are you saying that he was responsible for the breach?" "How did he orchestrate an attack if he was in custody?" "Did he succeed?" "Is Reddington in your custody now?"

Reporters fired off questions at breakneck speeds.

"I-I'm not going to be taking any questions right now, but I can confirm that the whereabouts of Raymond Reddington are unknown."

"Well, it looks like you're in the wind again, Dad." Lizzie murmured, shutting off the TV before throwing the remote in the general direction of the loveseat beside her.

Red chuckled as he tightened his arm around her shoulders and Lizzie gladly snuggled her head deeper into his shoulder.

"Haven't you heard? I'm like a cockroach. It takes much more than a CIA black site to keep me down."

"Mmm. I'll have to get my hands on some nuclear waste then." Lizzie teased, causing her dad to let out a bark of a laugh.

Quiet fell as both their minds fell to the day's events.

"Lizzie, Sweetheart. If you ever remember more, I need you to know that I'm here. If you feel the need to talk – "

"Why can't you just tell me what happened?" Lizzie questioned.

Red sighed, leaning his head against the back of the couch. "Lizzie what happened that night… No little girl should have ever been a party to. If even after everything Doctor Orchard did, your mind is still only giving you bits and pieces…" Red paused, wiping his face with his hand. "Please Lizzie, don't try to force it anymore. Memory is a double edge sword. Sometimes the safest thing to do is to lock it away and not touch it." Red heaved another sigh. "The only useful thing you could have learned from that night was the location of the Fulcrum, Lizzie. And you already have it."

Lizzie ran her thumb along the length of her scar. She wanted to argue. She wanted to demand that she had the right to know what happened that night. But then she remembered. She remembered the agonized look on his face as his back burned – as he rescued her. She remembered how broken he looked when she'd come out of the dream. She remembered all the times that he'd come to her rescue. So she remained silent. For now.

"It's starting, isn't it Dad?"

Red didn't need her to elaborate. "Yes." He murmured gravely.

"Are we ready?" Lizzie asked, her voice unsteady.

Red turned his head to kiss her forehead. "As ready as we can be."

/\/\/\/\/\

Neither of them were willing to be separated for very long so Lizzie's dad had gladly agreed to stay in the guest bedroom of her house. The old twin sized box spring mattress from her old bed in Nebraska wasn't exactly the lap of luxury but it was close and that's all that mattered.

All of the occupants of the house had finally settled down for the night. Lizzie and Don lay awake in their bed. Lizzie was curled against Don's side, careful of the bruises on her face. Don's arm was around her shoulders and her leg was flung across his hips. Sammy lay sleeping on Don's bare chest, Lizzie's hand resting on his little diapered bum. Neither of them could bear to have him anywhere else.

"I could have lost you today." Don murmured, his eyes fixed on the ceiling as he swallowed heavily.

"But you didn't." She reassured, carefully leaning forward to kiss his neck without waking Sammy.

"I could have lost you and I had to act like the FBI poster boy, like nothing was wrong – it was just a case. Even though it felt like the world was crumbling."

"Don – " Liz whispered brokenly, tears springing to her eyes.

"No Liz." Don whispered, cutting her off even though she wasn't sure if she'd have been able to continue. "Part of me, a part that grows almost everyday, wants to just pack up. Take you and Sammy and get out of here, get away from this mess." Don let out a frustrated groan, freezing for a moment as Sammy snuffled in his sleep.

With a much quieter sigh, Don continued on a whisper. "It's only going to get worse, isn't it?"

"It's going to get worse before it gets better." Lizzie corrected before carefully lifting herself up on her elbow to look directly at Don. "But I promise, it will get better. We have amazing people on our side, Don. We're going to do this."

Don stared at her for a moment before nodding his head in agreement, his lips thinned with determination. "Long road ahead?"

Lizzie leaned forward and captured Don's lips sweetly with hers. "Mmmm. Lucky for us, my family are experts on playing the long game."