Agnes 4

Author's Note: Still walking along with this idea…seeing where it goes…

Please leave a review.

GGGGGGGG

Don looked up at his kitchen ceiling, at the splatter that now resided there, and wasn't sure how that happened. He had acquiesced to the cookies and, true to his word, Chuck had given him a recipe that consisted of only ingredients he had in his home already, but making cookies with a five-year-old was not what he expected.

When she stirred, things slopped out of the bowl.

She when added ingredients, half the time she missed the bowl.

When she washed her hands to get the batter off, water and batter got everywhere.

By the time they had made one batch of cookies his normally neat kitchen looked like a bomb went off in it and she was tired and ready for bed. After tucking her in his bed, Don spent an hour wiping everything down, washing the dishes, and finding enough batter on every surface that they could have probably made 2 batches of cookies. The last thing that needed cleaning was the odd splotch on his ceiling. It was probably batter.

Don climbed up on a ladder he had in his closet and went at it with a wet cloth. He wasn't sure if he was making it worse or better until he stepped down and assessed the damage.

"Probably worse," he said softly.

He threw the cloth into his, now clean, sink and took a cookie off the tray. Agnes was so tired from her day, that she hadn't even eaten a cookie before going to bed. As cookies went, they weren't bad for a first attempt for either of them, but Don was thinking there was nothing wrong with buying cookies. It saved a lot of time and energy and his ceiling.

Don was just about to sit on his sofa when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Lunch!" He said as he walked back into his pristine kitchen.

He opened the fridge and saw cheese slices that had been on Liz's list. He grabbed those, some bread and started working on her lunch. Don was quite proud of his creation by the time he was done. He had a cheese sandwich, fish crackers in a Tupperware dish, an orange, and some cookies in her lunch. He threw a cheese sandwich together for himself, grabbed an apple and looked at the two lunches sitting side by side in the fridge and smiled. This would make lunch easier and, truthfully, Don knew Agnes could not survive on a daily dose of hot dogs. Neither would he.

He knew Liz would have not been impressed with the hot dogs, but she had asked him to take Agnes, so she would need to live with it. He had been checking his phone all day, thinking she would touch base after Agnes was settled, but, so far, nothing.

Don walked to the window and looked out at the security team sitting in the car outside watching his place. He picked up a couple of pictures Agnes had been colouring as he made supper and smiled down at the…dog? Dinosaur? Alligator? He wasn't sure, but it was colourful and seemed to be climbing up a very steep mountain.

Don heard his phone vibrate on the counter and walked quickly to it. There was a text with access to an account link and the words "that freckle". Don smiled. It was from Liz.

They had agreed that phone calls were not longer safe, and Liz had said she would figure out some way to contact them. Don had his phone checked daily by Aram for malware and no far no more had surfaced. They had also agreed that each time one of them contacted the other they would write something that only the other person would know to assure it was them communicating.

Don clicked the link which took him to an app download for Threema that had been paid with coin. He loaded the app on his phone and was given access to the app. Don waited, he wasn't sure what to do next—if she called him or he needed to do something to indicate he was now available…

His screen lit up and he clicked the accept button and saw her face on the screen, it brought an immediate smile to his lips.

"Liz," he sighed. "Are you safe?"

"Yeah," she smiled at him. "God, it's good to see you."

"You too," Don smiled at her. She looked like she was on some kind of ship or train…

"Agnes is in bed," Don said.

"I figured," Liz nodded. "I wanted to talk with you first and set this up."

"What is this?" Don asked.

"The swiss version of What's App but with better encryption and no data sharing," Liz offered. "It's a safe way for us to communicate. You can share pictures, videos, we can video chat, text…it's safe."

Don nodded and smiled. He liked that she was within reach.

"How is she?" Liz asked, concern on her face.

Don smiled. "She's doing good. We needed to go shopping, she grew out of everything. We went to a park today at lunch. Oh, we made cookies."

Don got up and started to walk toward the kitchen where they were still sitting on the tray.

"You made cookies with her?" Liz's heart melted.

"I kinda got backed into it by Agnes and Chuck," Don said as he turned his phone toward the cookies. "Not bad though, huh? First time."

Liz laughed. "I'm impressed. How did Chuck back you into this?"

Don turned to phone back to face him.

"Liz, I needed Reddington," Don said. "I'm still trying to figure out what to do with Agnes and I can't watch her at school and at the Post Office…"

"She's at the post office?" Liz asked, surprised.

"For now," Don said. "I'm still figuring out what to do to keep her close and safe but not locked away."

Liz nodded. "I'm sorry, I put you in an impossible…"

"No, it's fine," Don said, interrupting her. "I just need to figure something out. And Reddington offered Chuck."

"Chuck?" Liz asked.

"He was a grade 1 teacher," Don offered. "He's doing some diagnostic testing on her and they get along really well. He's great with her, actually."

"Chuck was a primary school teacher?" Liz asked, surprised.

"Tom taught grade 4," Don reminded her.

"Point taken," Liz said.

"Thanks Don," Liz said tired.

"How are you really?" Don asked.

She met his eyes, she couldn't lie to him.

"Scared," Liz said honestly.

Don swallowed hard.

"I'm going to be fine," Liz said. "As long as you and Agnes are safe, that's all I need."

"We need you to be safe," Don said softly, wishing he could hug her right now. She looked like she needed one.

"Tell me what you've been talking about," Liz said as she wiped at the corner of her eye.

"I'm liking the feminist children's books," Don chuckled. "I'm going to have to find her some more."

Liz laughed, picturing him baking cookies and shopping for feminist girl picture books was making her beyond giddy.

"She really likes the barbies," Don said. "She plays with them a lot, does different voices…"

"She loves the damn barbies," Liz sighed.

"And apparently peanut butter is like bringing a loaded gun anywhere," Don said.

"Oh my god, I forgot to tell you about tree nuts!" Liz gasped. "There's a girl in ballet who is like deathly allergic and they aren't allowed in schools or literally anywhere."

"Yeah, Agnes told me that mummy said peanut butter is just for at home," Don offered. "When is ballet?"

"I told you, it's tonight from five to six," Liz said.

"Okay, I missed that," Don said. "I'll get her there."

Liz nodded.

"I've been looking at day camps for the summer," Don said. "Chuck will go with her."

Liz nodded, as much as she and Reddington had their differences, he would never let anything happen to Agnes or take her away from Liz. "She'd like camp."

"I can take 3 weeks vacation, but there's another 5 that need to be camp," Don said.

"Have you looked at the account I set up?" Liz asked him.

"I haven't had a chance yet," Don admitted.

"Use it for the camp, the clothes, whatever you want, honestly, don't pay out of your own pocket for anything, Don, I mean it," Liz said as she looked at him seriously. "You are amazing doing this for me, and shouldn't be…"

"I get it Liz," Don nodded. "I'll look at the account."

"Sorry about the peanut butter," Liz smiled at him.

"It's okay," Don smiled back. "Uh, but it did seem to jog a memory with her of a morning when I was over."

Liz waited for him to continue.

"I made her toast with peanut butter," Don offered. "And she asked why I was coming from your room that morning."

Liz raised an eyebrow.

"Liz, I was a little caught off guard and…"

Liz's mind immediately went to the crazy story he may have concocted to explain why he was leaving her room in the early hours of the morning. Agnes had seen Don a few mornings, they'd all had breakfast together several times, and a couple of times they had taken Agnes to school together before going into work. It wasn't like Don snuck out every morning and Agnes didn't know he was ever there, but seven out of ten mornings that he stayed over, Agnes didn't have a clue.

All of this was, of course, before she went on the run trying to take down Reddington. Since then, there had been no breakfasts or overnight stays until a few nights ago. Liz missed them.

"I said I slept over," Don said, not sure if she was going to be okay with his answer.

Liz waited for him, thinking Don would have created more of a story to explain.

"Liz?" Don asked.

"Sorry, so you were honest with her?" Liz asked.

Don's neck and face started to go red, he must have completely mis-stepped on this one.

"I'm sorry, I…" Don started.

"No, that's exactly what I told her," Liz said, realizing suddenly that he was worried he had fucked up. "Thanks."

"Thanks?" Don asked.

"For being honest with her," Liz smiled at him. "There are too many secrets in her life already, I try and be honest about as much as I possibly can."

"Wait, you told her?" Don asked, going back to what she said earlier.

"Do you remember that Saturday we all went to the zoo?" Liz asked him with a smile.

Don smiled, he really loved that day.

"When you were in the shower and I was getting Agnes ready, she asked about you being there in the morning, remember she came in when she woke up and we'd slept in?" Liz asked him.

"I remember my sheer panic in that moment," Don chuckled.

He could still clearly see Agnes running into Liz's bedroom and Liz launching herself out of bed half naked and walking Agnes back to her room while Don found his clothes and threw them on his body as fast as was humanly possible. After a moment to settle his breathing, he walked out of the bedroom and was prepared to make a quick exit, when Liz called him to Agnes' room and invited him to go to the zoo with them.

"I told her you sleep over sometimes," Liz said with a smile. "She doesn't know…"

"Yeah, I get that at 5 she's thinking sleep is sleep," Don nodded.

"She asked why," Liz continued.

Don quirked an eyebrow, obviously Agnes' conversation with Liz had been more detailed.

"And I said because you are super special," Liz chuckled. "And then she asked if that's why we kissed."

Liz was laughing now, and Don couldn't help but smile.

"And did you say because I'm irresistible?" Don said with a wink.

"Kind of," Liz giggled.

"You did not," Don challenged her.

"No, I said," Liz stopped and then looked carefully at him. "I said when you love someone you show it with kisses."

Don swallowed hard. It was months ago that they had gone to the Zoo…August? September? She had known she had loved him, then?

Liz smiled at him.

"I've loved you for a long time," Liz said as she met his eyes. "But I just started to get comfortable with that last summer. I should have said it sooner, I…"

"It's okay," Don said. "You weren't the only one who…"

"I know," Liz smiled at him. "But now, with…everything…I wish I had started to say it back then. I wish you had heard it more."

Don nodded.

"I am kinda wishing the same thing," he said quietly. "I should have said it more."

Liz nodded.

They sat looking at each other and saying nothing, their eyes said everything that needed to be said.

"That freckle?" Don asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you would appreciate that," Liz smiled. "My love of that freckle…"

"Obsession is more like it," Don chuckled. "Sometimes I think I should leave so you and the freckle have some alone time."

Liz laughed. "But if you did that, you'd take that freckle with you."

Don laughed and shook his head.

Liz smiled, she missed that laugh. With everything going on recently, she had not heard it in a long, long time.

"I miss your laugh," Liz said softly. "I miss your smile."

Don nodded his head. He missed those things about her too.

"I miss the smell of your hair," he said as his face and neck got red.

Liz's smile widened, she had caught him taking a big whiff of it many times.

Don looked at her and he wasn't sure, in this moment, if video calls were making him miss her more or miss her less.

"Shit, I have to go," Liz said as she looked at something in the distance beyond her phone.

"Are you okay?" Don asked, alarmed.

"Yeah, it's just my stop," Liz said. "I thought I had more time."

"When will we hear from you again?" Don asked, thinking Agnes would like to chat with her mother.

"A few days?" Liz asked. "Sorry, Don, I have to go," Liz said as she stood and started to walk out of a room and down an aisle. He could see that she was on a train.

"Stay safe, I love you," Don said, not sure if she was still paying attention because the phone was now looking at her chin and neck as she walked.

Then her face suddenly filled the entire screen and she made a kissing motion and smiled at him. "I love you too. Give Agnes a kiss and hug from me and use this app to send me anything you want. I want to see the fun you are having."

Don nodded and the video call disconnected.

He placed the phone down on the coffee table and sat back and thought about the conversation. She seemed pretty happy with how he was managing so far, which was a good thing. And he smiled at the thought that Liz had told Agnes she loved him months before she told him. Don shook his head and looked at the couch. He wasn't going to bother pulling the bed out tonight, he turned off the one lamp, curled up on the coach, pulled a throw blanket over himself, and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

To be continued…