I'M RIGHT HERE.

RATE: M hurt/romance/comfort

DISCLAMER: I don't own the blacklist, just like playing around with it.

NOTE: IT'S BEEN A FEW YEARS SINCE I WROTE ANYTHING, PLEASE BE FAIR, I DON'T NOT HAVE A BETA READER EITHER SO EXCUSE THE GRAMMER OR SPELLING. TYPLICLY, I WRITE IN AU, BUT TRY TO KEEP A COMMEN THEME OF WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE SHOW, NOT ALWAYS.

I had this part of this posted already, but I pulled it down to rework it and will be adding more chapters.

An Injury finally causing feelings to spill over.

Chapter 1

Liz slammed the truck to a stop in front of the local safe house of the week, she didn't even bother to shut the door as she stormed inside.

Demba looking to see who was coming in as she pushed the door open and started down the hall. Elizabeth Keen was pissed and on the war path.

"Where is he?" her voice full of anger and impatience as she spoke to Dembe.

Demba just pointed down the hall, her shoes clicked on the hard wood floor as she walked swiftly. She opened the door and walked in Red quickly turning, acting surprised to see her, trying to give her a warm greeting.

"Eliz…." He was cut off by Liz throwing her hand up and starting to yell at him.

"Don't, not even a word!" She quickly closed the space between them and had her hand on Red's chest backing him against the wall.

"I swear, Reddington." It had been a long time since she called him that, he had grown fond of her calling him Red, he knew she was beyond the point of talk or reasoning. She was mad at him, he rolled his tongue around his mouth and looked at her.

"If you ever pull a stunt like that again," Red winced in pain, his hand coming up to protect his wounded shoulder as she pushed on him to get her point across.

"What's wrong?" She asked, as he tried to stop her hand from pulling his coat aside. Moving it just enough she saw the tattered edges of his shirt and the bleeding bullet wound.

Red watched her face soften, the anger in her eyes being replaced with worry. Liz took a deep breath and turned her head up to look at him.

He looked over at his own shoulder, "it's not as bad as it looks." He said calmly.

"Says the man who is actively bleeding all over the floor, look at you Raymond you're a mess." Red felt a little tug at his heart as his first name came off her lips, she so really use it, he loved how it sounded coming from her.

Elizabeth took a breath and backed from him, she grabbed his right hand and led him over to the chair. Red sat down, the movement pulling at the muscle in his shoulder.

He watched as Liz walked into the bathroom, she was gone for a few minutes returning with a bowl of warm water and some towels. She sat everything down next to him on the table, slowly pulling his coat off, she gently pulled it off his right arm and moved even slower as she pulled the coat of his left arm.

Tossing the blood soaked clothing aside, she bends down in front of him and grabbed his tie. Loosening it till it was free of itself and sliding it from around the collar of his shirt.

Red felt his heart start to race as she reached for the buttons on his shirt. She was so close he could feel her breath on his neck, she made quick work of the buttons, gently pulling it from his waistband to find a white undershirt.

"Jesus Red, how many layers to you wear?" She joked as she tossed it adding to the pile of dirty cloths on the floor. Stopping for a moment to try and figure out the best way of getting the undershirt off without hurting him, she dug around in her pocket and pulled out a small knife. Red's eyes widened, his brows frowning slightly.

"What the hell are you going to do with that?" He pulled himself back a bit from Liz.

"Unless you think you can raise your arm up, I'm going to cut your shirt off you." The tone in her voice told Red he wasn't going to have much say in the matter, and the idea of raising his arm wasn't really appealing either. Picking up on his hesitation, Liz asked him.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Liz, its just," Red was trying to find his words when Liz spoke again.

Her voice softer, "What's wrong Red?"

"It's just, well...my," stumbling over his words only frustrated him more, he didn't want her to see his back. He was in no shape to deal with the interigation that would come from it. But when he glanced up and saw the deep care on her face, the way she was biting her bottom lip in worry, he broke.

"It just, hurts is all." Red quickly trying to cover up with that statement but Elizabeth could read between the line, she just looked at him for a moment and opened the knife up and reached for the neck of the shirt.

Pulling it far away enough not to hurt him as she made a small cuts on both sides of it and put her knife away, she reached up and started to slowly rip the shirt down the sleeves from the neck so she could free it from his arms and maneuver it over his head.

Her heart started to ache as the first bit of scared jagged skin showed on his back, as more came into view she understood why he had started to make a fuss about her taking his shirt off. His entire back was full of deep scars. Her need to start asking him questions was quickly over powering her, but seeing how axiouse he has been with her, she didn't want to make him feel worse. Questions another time, she told herself. Red letting out a small sigh of relieve as she went about her task.

She pulled the chair over and sat down on his left side, grabbing a cloth and dunking it in the warm water and then gently pressing it to the wound. Clearing some of the blood away. Red watched her out of the corner of his eye as she tended to his shoulder, her light touch, the way she was so focused on what she was doing it made him smile softly.

Elizabeth stole a few glances at him to make sure her poking and prodding of the area was not causing him to much pain, her anger creeping back in as she worked.

"What were you thinking?" She asked, dipped the cloth back in the bowl, the water tuning a light shade of red as she rung it out.

Red glanced down and the turned his eyes away, no focusing on anything really.

"What I always do." his answers not settling well with Liz as she rolled her eyes.

Shaking her head as her own frustration finally spilled out. "I am getting really tired of this half-truth, cryptic answers! You cant ever just give a straight answer, to anything I ask. What the hell does that even mean? What I always do?" Her snarky repeat of his words cause Red to cut her off.

"It means you get what you want, and I get what I want, don't act like this is a surprise to you, you knew why we needed to find the book keeper. It's a give and take Elizabeth, I give you the bookkeeper and I take the information I need. A business transaction."

He chin started to quiver as she fought back the tears building.

In the last couple months, they had been spending more and more time together, she had gone with him on a few trips to follow up on leads they has shared lots of laughs and special moments together. A flash of their dance they shared in Cuba just last week, she had been so sure Red was going to kiss her as they moved to the slow music, but like a gentleman he is, he'd placed a soft kiss to her forehead.

She had thought they were at a point in their relationship, not only with the task force but with each other that things could be more open and maybe even more special, but that one statement told her everything she needed to know.

Raymond Reddington was never going to let down his walls enough to let her in all the way, let her be part of his life at least anything more than a business transaction.

"A business transaction?" she said with a huff, "You're unbelievable Reddington!"

Grabbing a clean rag, she pushed it to Red's shoulder, maybe a little too hard as he let out a small gasp of pain, grabbing his right hand and replacing her with it on the cloth.

"Hold this!" She got up and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Red asked, holding the cloth to his injured shoulder while trying to stand up.

"To tell Demba to call the doctor, our "Business transaction" She air quoted to him is over." With that the door slammed shut, living Red standing there looking at the back of it.