In the car on the way to the Russian Embassy, Yvonne brought up Ressler's words from a few minutes before.
"Hey what you said back there, about a man's right to know, what did you mean? You don't think that a woman should have the say over a pregnancy, because it's her body? Or what did you mean?" She had a hard time believing that Ressler could truly think that, but she had no idea what might cause him to think either way and she wanted to be sure he wasn't just being biased.
"No I didn't say that, I don't mean that, I-I just think that should be a decision that should not be reached without talking to the - I just don't think a woman should leave the father out of the decision".
"So you think he has a right to know no matter what happens?"
"Well, I mean it's situational, I understand that, but - overall, yah, I do. I mean I think sometimes, especially if it is just a one time thing, the woman doesn't ever tell the man, I think that that's wrong. The man has a right to know, to have the knowledge that he has a child, if-if that's how he thinks, and to be a part of that. I would want to know, if it was me. I-I would want the chance to be a father. Not to be sexist, but I think sometimes society seems to forget that men can desire children too you know?" He stopped and it was quiet for a minute, then he looked at her and asked, "why, am I wrong?"
"No, you're not wrong" she said. You probably are a rare man for saying that though. She couldn't help but think that there was likely more involved, but she wasn't going to push it, having children was clearly a touchy topic for him.
"So when we get there" she started, changing the subject, "do we just march in his office? Or how does that work?"
"Yah, pretty much" said Ressler, embracing the change in topic. "Then we start asking questions and see where it takes us. Not a lot he can do about it".
Liz entered the name of the doctor that she found on the bottom of the Proof of Paternity sheet into the database. Thankfully, it came up to reveal a real, registered doctor who worked in D.C. general hospital. The extent of his list of crimes was a speeding ticket that probably could have been forgiven.
Calling Alina and Colin over, they decided to drive down to the hospital and meet with this doctor to see what he could recall about a baby he had delivered seven years ago, and to access the full medical chart.
After telling Cooper they were heading out and agreeing to update him, they set out across town. D.C. General Hospital was by no means the biggest or best hospital in the city, but it was common among the middle class and working class and a fair number of people went there everyday. Dr. Oberman was an OBGYN who had been working there for 11 years, which meant he would have still been a resident or fellow when Molly was born.
"He might not remember much" said Colin, "I mean I'm sure he delivers a couple babies every shift"
"I know, but she was listed as a patient there which means that her medical records will at least be in their database". said Liz. "Even getting those will help".
Aram was having a harder time. There was not very much information at all on Mr. Ivanov. Which in itself says something he knew. He had been born in Russia in 1959, which made him 61 years old, pretty old for a daughter of seven. It also made him at least as old as Katarina and Reddington though, which means he might have some knowledge that makes him valuable to Reddington.
There was no criminal activity that stood out to Aram, I mean he is an ambassador, he thought. But on the other hand, there were a lot of years unaccounted for. He had gone into politics after a short career in law in Russia, and had been married when he was 34. He had moved to the US and accepted a position at the Embassy shortly afterwards and now had climbed the rungs there so that he was nearly at the top.
Aram had no doubt that he had vast amounts of knowledge, but if he had to guess he would say that he came by it honestly. That meant that Reddington would not be able to just call him up, or get him to participate in any way, unless he had leverage. Thus his kidnapping of Molly.
Scrolling on the page he was currently on, a personnel file from the embassy, Aram paused and reread the line he was on.
Mrs. M. Ivanov, deceased August 7th, 2013. Calling for Cooper Aram picked up an identification sheet that had also been in Molly's bag. Name, sex, eye color, hair color, DOB. There we go. 07/08/2013.
Ah hah! That was new, and worth mentioning. Pulling out his phone, Aram sent a text to Ressler.
A: Was married, wife died the same day Molly was born. Maybe he gave the child up for adoption? He turned to the little girl now scribbling on a blank paper with a pen. Maybe, if he asked gently he could figure out if she had been put up for adoption, or shuffled through the foster system.
Ressler got Aram's text as he walked into the Embassy.
R: Okay, anything else you found out that night be helpful? The three little dots popped up, so Ressler knew he was typing. He paused for a minute to update Yvonne and wait for Aram's reply.
A: No evidence of criminal activity, though he is very knowledgeable about all things Russian politics. Big writer. My guess, Red intended to use the girl as bait, suck information out of him by offering to trade for her.
R: Okay, nothing he hasn't done before. Fits his MO. Thanks. Ressler held his phone so Yvonne could read it as he typed back to Aram. After sending the message, he put the phone back in his pocket and kept walking.
Showing their badges at the front desk got them his office number on the third floor as easily as it had opened the gates outside. Taking the elevator and following the doors, it was not difficult at all to locate the office. A knock was met with a "come in" and Ressler opened the door to find the ambassador alone in his office, seated at the desk.
He was older than Ressler had expected, gray haired and beginning to go bald, his short and stocky frame heavy with a few extra pounds. He was neat though, and looked every bit the politician in the tailored suit and glasses.
He looked a little startled as Ressler introduced them, but he stood to shake their hands.
"Mr. Ivanov?" Ressler asked, pulling out the first of the heavy leather chairs facing his desk for Yvonne and then settling in the second one.
"Yes, is everything alright agents?"
"Well" said Ressler, "we have some questions, we are a little concerned for your welfare"
"Alright, I'll do my best to answer them" he said, with no visible objection to their presence. Yvonne let Ressler take the lead, there was a lot she could learn from him.
"You have a deep knowledge of Russia government, is that correct?"
"Yes sir, years"
"Do you know anything about N-13 or any archives or groups related to it?"
"A little, I know enough to know its real, not a legend, but I don't know exactly - why? Is that what you came to talk about?"
"Actually sir, its a little more personal than that" said Ressler, focusing on the man.
It turned out that the ambassador and his wife had married a little later and tried for children almost immediately. They hadn't had much luck, but there were several miscarriages. They had never been able to carry a pregnancy to term and had eventually given up. As fate would have it, they did eventually conceive and manage to sustain a pregnancy, but by that time they were both quite old. He was looking forward to the child, as was his wife, but she was killed in a car accident in her 7th month. He was told the child had died as well. Having being used to loss, he did not question it and buried his wife.
That left a large gap where the child was actually not dead and somehow taken but it did explain the way everything had come about. Now they would have to figure out who took the baby from the hospital, how they managed to complie a Paternity form and how the girl had been hidden and raised all these years. Ressler's bet was on Reddington every step of the way.
When it came time to tell him that his daughter was alive, Ressler seemed to falter. He looked over at Yvonne with a look of struggle and she took the hint and cleared her throat.
"Well sir, this is going to come as a shock, but your child is not dead". She just said it, there was really no way to sugarcoat something like that. His jaw dropped and his mouth worked as though forming words but nothing came out. He looked to Ressler for confirmation and at his nod of affirmation he turned quickly back to her.
"You have a daughter" she continued. "She is seven years old and her name is Molly".
"How do I know you're not lying?" he asked. Ressler had anticipated some disbelief, heck, he wouldn't believe it himself, and he pulled out his phone, making a video call to Aram. He picked up almost right away and Ressler put him on speakerphone and turned him to face himself for a minute.
"Agent Ressler?" came Aram's voice over the phone.
"Yes, hey Aram, I'm here with Agent Tarmeny and Mr. Ivanov, and he would like to see his daughter". He didn't say that the ambassador needed proof, he didn't need to.
"Oh of course, here, hang on"
"I'm sorry" said the ambassador, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just - it's just, you spend so long grieving them you know. Accepting the fact that they're gone, that they're never coming back, it's just - it's-"
"It's alright, sir, I do know" said Ressler, swallowing thickly. Yvonne caught the edge in his voice and turned to look at him. There is something more there. He understands, it almost seems like he's been through it himself.
Then the moment was over. Turning his phone and holding it out for the Mr. Ivanov, Ressler said, "this is agent Motjabi, we work with him, and he is staying with your daughter right now".
Soon Aram stood and swung his phone around so that it was facing the little girl sitting at his side. He intentionally held it at a distance so that they could see her moving on the screen and so not too scare her with an object in her face. Ressler handed the phone across the desk to the older gentleman who was reaching for it with trembling hands.
"My god, she looks like Marian" he said.
Slowly Molly focused on the phone Aram was holding and on the face she could see in it. Her question startled them all though. "Daddy?"
At the hospital, Liz, Colin and Alina headed straight for the OB department, asking the nurses behind the desk where they might find Dr. Oberman. They were in luck, he was on call that day and was at the hospital waiting on a laboring mother. They tracked him down in a patient room and kindly asked if they could talk in private. Feeling outnumbered and clearly a little afraid he had led them to an office, that while likely not his, would serve their purpose.
Liz began by holding up the paper she had taken, the Paternity sheet and asking if it was indeed signed by him. According to the paper, it had been signed just a few days ago, but the doctor had no recollection of signing it.
"It looks like my signature yes, but I didn't sign it. I remember all my patients from the last several days and none of them were-" he dropped off leaving Liz to fill in the blank.
"Molly Ivanov"
"Yah, besides I never do Paternity tests" he said. "I am too busy bringing babies into the world to work out claims of who made them". It might be true for all they knew of the working of the medical system. "That is usually done by fertility specialists or genetic specialists, not simple Obstetricians". He paused for a minute there, then asked "What did you say her name was? Molly? That rings a bell"
"Yes, she was born in August of 2013" said Alina, hoping to expedite the process.
"Oh, yes I remember her. I was a resident, it was the youngest baby I had ever delivered myself, actually it was a crash C-section. You don't forget the first one you know? The mother was DOA, we delivered the baby down in the ER, she was 29 weeks. In the ICU for months". That seemed to sum up his memory of the birth, but it was enough to know that that part at least was true.
"We are going to need her medical files" said Liz.
"Uh, we don't generally hand out that information-" he started, but was cut off by Colin
"You do to FBI agents when it's a matter of safety. Believe me, the information will be kept confidential, and it may also save a little girls life".
At this the doctor sighed and nodded, then turned, walking from the room. They followed him, stood waiting and watching over his shoulder as he found the file online and hit print. Collecting the file, they double checked that he wasn't responsible for signing the Paternity claim and accepted his answer in the negative. That meant it was likely fabricated as Liz had first suspected. They asked for more details but that was about all this doctor could remember, it was seven years after all, with hundreds of babies a year, they were lucky he even remembered her name and situation at all. As they were walking away though, the doctor, clearly thinking this a matter of domestic violence, remarked,
"It's strange that she's in danger, her father seemed so involved".
Back at the Post Office, after hanging up the phone call from Ressler, Aram and Cooper decided to ask Molly some careful questions.
They were all shocked when she had called her father, a man she had never met, Daddy.
"He must look very similar to whoever she is used to" said Cooper.
"Did you know that man?" Aram asked Molly
"Yah, that's Daddy" she said. Molly had sufficiently calmed down since earlier in the day and she was answering pretty well.
"And did you live with Daddy?" he glanced over at Cooper, who had sat down at the table. He pulled up the image from the security feeds that morning and zoomed in on the man who had led Molly to the bench that morning. It was a fuzzy image but the similarities were shocking. The hair was a little off, not quite as gray, still more blond, but both men were about the same age, same build and had very similar faces.
Cooper spun the laptop around, met Aram's eyes and showed Molly the picture. "Is this Daddy?"
"Yep" she studied the picture, as did both agents, and the longer they did, the more similar the two men became.
"So whoever this guy is, he's probably been playing Mr. Ivanov for years" said Aram.
Cooper nodded in agreement, "it's alarmingly easy in this day and age" he said.
"So, now we what?" asked Aram, " we just wait until Ressler and Yvonne get back with her Dad and see how she responds?"
"Yah, and then we get them out of the country so Reddington can't get them" said Cooper, walking away to start making those arrangements.
Ressler called Liz on his way back to the office. They filled each other in and the gaps came together. Whatever nameless face had shown up in the hospital and supported Molly as a baby was the man who raised her. He clearly closely resembled Mr. Ivanov and had assumed his identity from day one in the hospital. Reddington had likely arranged the message of death that was given to the ambassador and been responsible for the back work.
"So he lied, faked a death, found a step-in father to raise a little girl for his own reasons and waited until he needed her for his own purposes" summarized Colin.
"Yep" said Ressler with absolutely no surprise whatsoever.
"Nothing he hasn't done before" said Liz. With me.
Ressler's phone vibrated and he noticed that Cooper was trying to call. They were stuck in the afterwork rush hour so it would be a few minutes before they were back at the Post Office. He added him to the call and repeated most of what had just been said.
"Well Aram and I pulled up a photo of the man who dropped her off from the security feeds and whoever he is, he looks a lot like the ambassador. Molly called them both Daddy"
"Alright" said Alina, all considering that the ambassador was in Ressler's backseat and could hear every word.
"And I'm willing to bet that he works for Reddington" said Liz.
"Probably" came Cooper's voice.
"Wait Reddington is real?" asked Mr. Ivanov.
"Very real" said Colin, and they left it there. He would have the impression that the FBI were after the criminal, not ever in league with him and that was fine by them.
"And we think he's coming for you" said Ressler, trying to explain the situation as best as he could. "He failed this morning and I am sure he is not happy about that so he is probably in a bit of a hurry now".
"Exactly" agreed Cooper, "so we are going to get you somewhere safe, I am still working out the details, but for now, just now that you will likely be out of the country by tonight".
The conversation went on a few minutes and then they hung up to allow Cooper to finalize his part, agreeing to meet back at the Post Office soon.
Liz and her group beat Ressler back to the Post Office by about 5 minutes. When they heard the elevator take it's journey they all walked over to wait. When the doors opened Liz automatically fell into step beside Ressler, drawn by a force developed from years of walking side by side. They made the corner and walked over to the table where Molly was sitting with Aram. They more or less formed a circle around the table, with Mr. Ivanov and Molly in the center. Liz wasn't sure why they had the circle, it just kind of came naturally.
She could feel Ressler standing beside and a little behind her. He was close enough that she could feel the heat coming off his body, and a small readjustment of her stance brought her shoulder into contact with his chest. His breath caught, and she felt his chest stop mid inhale for a second before resuming it's regular pattern. His presence was comfortable and supporting and he seemed to like it as well because neither of them made a move to break the fragile touch.
Molly looked at the ambassador for a only a minute before trying to get down from the chair. Cooper's strong hands lifted her under the armpits and set her in the floor.
"Daddy" she shrieked, running to Mr. Ivanov. She would learn soon enough that there was a lot more going on here but for now they let her have her innocence.
Mr. Ivanov reached for his daughter, lifting her carefully as though she were made of glass, and holding her for the first time. He rocked her and whispered in her ear, enthralled by the wonder that his child was alive and in his arms.
The taskforce watched with emotion on their faces, it truly was a beautiful sight. Eventually the spell was broken though and they set about readying the ambassador and his daughter for their trip. Their plane would take off out of D.C. at eight o'clock, which was a mere three hours away and take them to Moscow. From there would be given a house provided by the Russian government in a small town of his choosing and he would retire early. They were so busy making plans and arrangements that it wasn't until much later that Liz realized that Ressler was no longer with them.