Ressler, Listen to Me
Author's Note: That one shot didn't last for long! I have decided to continue with this one and attempt to keep 3 WIPs straight in my head. If you have not looked at The Long Game or Agnes, please head over there and do so!
Please leave a review.
ZZZZZZZZZZ
Don slowly opened his eyes and felt an immediate rocking sensation and thought he may throw up. He closed his eyes again and it felt worse. He carefully opened them in the darkened room and tried to see anything, there was some light on the edge of his vision to the right but nothing he could make out.
He shifted slightly and rolled onto his left side and saw Liz asleep on a sofa with a small light on near her. He rotated his head to see a record player to his left with a record skipping on it, the album finished.
"Liz?" Don asked as he looked down at himself and winced when he felt the pain in his shoulder.
He lay back down and allowed his eyes to adjust.
He could see wood panelling everywhere and that he was on a hospital gurney and wearing a hospital gown. He had an IV drip, and some monitors looking at his blood pressure. He lifted the blanket and looked at his shoulder properly dressed and lifted his hospital nightgown to reveal that he had been catheterized.
"Jesus Christ," Don groaned.
The last thing he remembered was talking to Liz as he lay on a sofa, someplace…and there was a woman…now he was not there anymore, but where was he?
"Liz!" Don called a little louder and he heard her gasp and then her footfalls as she walked toward him.
"You're awake!" She said as she smiled down at him.
"Where am I?" Don asked.
"Somewhere two days out on the Atlantic," Liz said.
"What?" Don asked, confused.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Liz asked him as she smoothed some hair back off his face.
"Townsend's men shot at us, I was hit, then you and I were at a place, with this woman who was working on me and…that's it," Don offered.
Liz nodded and smiled at him.
"We brought in a team to remove the bullet," Liz said with a soft smile.
"We?" Don asked.
He watched Liz swallow.
"Reddington," Liz said.
"Wait, you and Red?" Don asked.
"We've formed a truce to work together and take down Townsend," Liz said.
"You and Reddington, working together again?" Don asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Liz nodded.
"Wow," Don said as he closed his eyes. "I never thought I would see that again."
Liz chuckled nervously.
"Where are we again?" Don asked as he felt the motion and opened his eyes again.
"On a cargo ship over the Atlantic," Liz said. "We're on our way to Austria."
"Red's fancy cargo container," Don said to himself more than to her.
"Yeah," Liz confirmed.
"Why am I not in a hospital?" Don asked her.
He saw something pass across her face before she schooled it.
"It wasn't safe," Liz said as she looked anywhere but at him.
He grabbed her hand, forcing her to pay attention to him.
"Why?" He asked.
He watched her tuck the blanket back around him and fuss over his IV line before she looked at him.
"Townsend was coming after you because of me," Liz said.
Don furrowed his forehead and looked at her like she was nuts.
"Why?" He asked.
Liz swallowed hard and took a deep breath.
"Because he knows I care about you," Liz said, her eyes flicking toward his quickly and then away.
"And that's going to cause him to murder me?" Don asked, scoffing slightly.
"Ressler…Don…I couldn't risk you," Liz said finally as she met his eyes and held his gaze.
"So, you loaded me on Reddington's deluxe cargo container and are seeing me safely to Austria, why? So, I can hide?"
"We're going to hide," Liz said.
Don furrowed his brow. His brain was trying to put all the pieces together, but he was tired and probably drugged. She saw his confusion and explained.
"Reddington is getting Agnes from Oslo and I'm travelling with you and we're meeting in Austria," Liz said. "It's the only way, until Townsend is taken out."
"And you and Reddington are going to be the ones to do that?" Don asked, not sure this was the best plan.
"To keep all of us safe, yes, we are," Liz nodded, the conviction clear in her voice.
Don looked down at the end of the container before them and started to think.
"What does the task force know?" Don asked.
"Nothing," Liz said.
"So, we just disappeared, you and I?" Don asked, surprised by this revelation.
Liz nodded.
Don rubbed at his eye with his left hand. "Liz, we can't do this. They're going to think I was involved or…"
He saw her look away. That worked for her; them not knowing the role Don played in all of this.
"Liz, we need to get word to them that we're alive and…"
Liz shook her head in the negative.
"Who will that hurt?" Don asked, angered.
"There's a mole in the FBI, possibly the task force, that works for Townsend," Liz said. "We don't know who it is, and I can't take that chance."
"You kidnapped me?" Don asked, the strain in his voice apparent.
"Took you with me," she corrected. "It was the only way to keep you safe," Liz said, her back straightening and jaw tightening at his accusation.
Don chuckled. This reminded him of his hooker, call girl, prostitute conversation with Red.
"Am I allowed to leave?" Don asked her with a raised eyebrow, he knew the answer already.
He watched Liz swallow.
Don sighed.
"Who's taking care of all this?" Don asked as he gestured around himself and started to sit up, knowing the kidnapping conversation was going nowhere with her.
"Ressler, don't…" Liz tried to stop him from straining himself. "There's a nurse with us. He sleeps with the crew."
"Well, get his ass down here to take out my catheter" Don said. "Or I will myself."
"Don, you don't…"
"The Scimitar?" Don reminded her.
"Oh, yeah," Liz said as she remembered him walking into the washroom in his underwear with his catheter bag and a syringe and return looking a little pale but without anything attached to him anymore when he walked out.
"Fine," Liz sighed. "Give me a minute."
She went to a phone and placed a call while Don carefully took his IV out and detached all of his blood pressure monitoring pads on his body.
"I see where I've been sleeping, you've been sleeping on the sofa?" Don asked when she got off the phone.
"I'm closer that way, the bedroom seems a little far," Liz offered. She walked to the record player and turned it off, placing the needle back on it's stand.
"They got the bullet and any fragments out?" Don asked her, all business.
He watched her go to a sink and get him some water. How Reddington had electrical and plumbing hooked up to a cargo container on a boat, he wanted to know.
"Yeah, it's clean," Liz said as she brought him a glass of water. He took a long drink of it and handed her back the empty glass.
"Water and electrical?" Don asked her.
"Electrical is from a generator," Liz said. "The water is an illusion."
Don, raised his eyebrow.
"He has tanks under the sinks of purified water, so it comes out of the tap, but it's the equivalent of bottled water. Same as the shower."
Don nodded, he remembered Samar telling him it was a sophisticated set-up, but didn't ask for the details. When they searched it years ago, he was more interested in the things inside the container then how the container operated.
When she stepped away to put the glass down, Don carefully moved his shoulder and gasped in pain.
"You're doing too much too soon," Liz said as she rushed to his side.
"What drugs are in me?" Don asked, worried he would need to start at Day 1 again,
"Sedatives, mild muscle relaxants, Gravol, some Tylenol with codeine, and a blood thinner," Liz said. "No Oxy."
Don nodded, happy at least that was a win.
"Can I call Cooper?" Don asked as he gestured toward the phone in her hand.
"No, Don," Liz said as she placed the phone in her back pocket. "Haven't you heard…"
"I heard what you said Liz," Don said as he rolled his hurt shoulder and winced. "It doesn't mean I agree with you."
Liz looked at him perplexed.
"You can't tell anyone where we are," Liz said her message clear. "He will find us."
"Cooper isn't dirty," Don said.
"We don't know who is," Liz said. "You don't know with 100% certainty that it's not Cooper, so don't tell me he's safe until we can be assured he's safe."
Don looked at her crazed eyes and decided to back off.
"Fine," Don said. "For now."
Liz nodded.
"How's your head?" She asked as she looked at his eyes. "You hit the ground hard."
"A bit of a headache, but nothing crazy," Don said, annoyed she was not bending to his will.
"I was worried about a…."
Just then the door opened and a man in jeans and a hoodie walked in.
"Gary, this is Don," Liz said to the man who had been caring for Don since he was out of surgery.
"Nice to see you awake," Gary smiled at Don and shook his hand.
"Good to meet you too Gary," Don nodded at the man. "Sorry to make this my first request, but I'm going to need you to take out my catheter."
Gary smiled.
"Every man wants that out as soon as is humanly possible," Gary smiled at him,
Don chuckled and Gary opened up a cupboard and took out a medical bag.
"On it," Gary said.
"I've taken one out on my own in the past," Don said conversationally. "But it's a process I'd like handled by a professional. It was not pleasant."
Gary chuckled and nodded. "I'm impressed you were able to do it on your own."
"Different circumstances," Don said as he eyed Liz. The last time she had been with him as well and they had been getting ready to escape the medical care being offered.
"I'll….", Liz said as she gestured toward the bedroom,
"Yeah, that's probably best," Gary said with a nod. Don let out the breath he had been holding, he didn't need her to witness this.
Liz walked toward the bedroom and shut the door over. She heard Don making small talk with Gary as he set up equipment.
She texted Reddington. We've got a problem.
She sighed. It wasn't like she expected Don to go along with the plan easily, but his resolve to get in touch with the task force, despite the risk, was more than she expected. His anger with her was palpable. She knew him, and being kidnapped and on a boat on his way to Europe with her was not where Don Ressler wanted to be; she knew that without him vocalizing it.
She listened and heard Gary say. "You know what to expect."
She heard Don wince and huff, and then let out a large breath, and thank Gary.
"Want me to take a look at that shoulder?" Gary asked him.
"How long have I been out?" Don asked.
"Almost 3 days," Gary offered. "She's been worried sick."
Liz heard Don mumble something.
"How many more days are we on this boat?" Don asked.
"I was told seven total, if the weather cooperates," Gary said. "Looks good. I'll change the dressings tomorrow before bed, but you are healing nicely. You'll have a scar…"
"It won't be the first," Don said.
"Drink a lot of water so you can visit the washroom on your own and evacuate," Gary offered. "If you get a fever, notice an infection, or feel generally unwell, get Liz to call me."
Don thanked him.
Liz heard the door open and close and walked out of the bedroom to Don Ressler's bare ass.
"Well, that's a way to get noticed," Liz said as she smiled at him. He turned so he was facing her, the open back of his gown now hidden.
"I've been told it's memorable," Don quipped.
"I certainly remember it," Liz smiled at him.
She watched him turn a deep shade of red.
"Dembe and Reddington keep clothes here," Liz said as she walked toward a closet.
Don carefully walked to where she was and looked inside.
The clothes belonged to the two men alright. Red had perfectly tailored suits and shirts hanging in a row and Dembe had more casual pants, all black, and soft sweaters in a variety of muted colours.
Don preferred Dembe's style to Reddington's and, although he knew the man was larger than him, figured he could work with the clothes better than Reddington's.
"You're more of a Dembe," Liz said as she pulled out a black knit sweater for him.
"I was thinking the same," Don said before he took out some black, straight legged pants and pulled them on.
"Commando?" Liz arched an eyebrow as she watched him do up the fly. The waist was gaping around him, Dembe was a fit man, but just had a larger body frame than Don, especially through the lower half.
"I'll wear his clothes, but you don't wear a man's underwear, Liz," Don said as he reached for a belt and cinched in the waist significantly before he accepted the sweater from her and, taking off his hospital gown, started to slip it over his head.
Liz helped him with his one shoulder, and he grabbed onto the wall for support afterwards. His shoulder screaming and a sheen of cold sweat breaking out over his forehead. Liz kneeled down and rolled up the cuff twice, Dembe was a couple inches taller than Don.
"Let's get you sitting down," Liz offered. "I'll get us something to eat."
Don sat on the sofa and looked around at the room that you would swear was a high-end upper east side apartment if it wasn't on a cargo ship. He watched her pull out microwave dinners and start to hit the buttons. He needed to visit the washroom and call the task force from the phone he took from Gary before he noticed it was missing.
"I need to…" Don slowly stood and pointed toward the washroom.
"It's a bio toilet," Liz said as she got down plates.
Don nodded and walked toward the washroom, his body telling him he needed to rest, but his brain knowing he only had a small window of opportunity before the missing phone was discovered.
He walked into the washroom and latched the door. He pulled out the burner and tried to remember Cooper's number, but his brain was still foggy, and it wasn't coming to him. It was so much easier to just press a button.
He did remember the FBI's main line, so he called it and told the woman he needed to be put through to Harold Cooper. He was put on hold.
"It's ready!" Liz called from the other side of the door.
"Be there in a minute," Don said and then heard her walk away.
"I'm sorry, Harold Cooper is not…"
"I've been…" Don started to say kidnapped, but he couldn't say the words. He technically had been kidnapped, but for a good reason, and by people he knew would not harm him.
He heard Liz talking with someone.
"Shit," Don said.
"Sir, are you in distress?" The woman asked.
"My name is Agent Donald Ressler, badge number 9527829 and I am…"
The door burst open, and Liz barrelled into him knocking the phone loose.
"Sir, sir? Are you there?" the woman on the other side yelled through the phone as it lay on the ground by the toilet.
Gary reached down and picked up the phone off the floor and Liz pulled back and stared at Don out of breath shaking her head.
"What did you tell them?!" She yelled at him.
"Why did you kidnap me?!" Don yelled back at her, equally angry.
The two of them stood in the space huffing and glaring at each other for over a minute, the tension in the room apparent.
"Uh, I need to look at those stitches," Gary said, awkwardly as he pointed at Don's bleeding shoulder.
"Shit," Liz swore before she stomped out of the room.
Don pulled himself off the sink and shook his head.
"Sorry about that," he said to Gary, out of breath.
Gary nodded, he understood that even a luxury prison was still a prison.
"Come on, let's make sure none of your stitches came out," he said as he gestured for Don to walk ahead of him and out of the washroom.
To be continued…