The Long Game
Part 4
Author's Note: Let me know what you think with a review. I keep thinking about them now (season 8) and forgetting that they were awkward and snippy at times with each other in the beginning. I'm also wondering what I am going to do when she's a wanted criminal-I may have to ignore that part of the storyline entirely-any suggestions?
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Liz rolled into her parking space on Friday at 3pm and stopped to take a deep breath when she shut off the engine. She and Ressler had not worked together since Tuesday when she was rescued from the Stewmaker and she lost it in front of him and a slew of other FBI agents. She had, obviously, missed Tuesday night because she was in the hospital, but had decided she needed to follow through with this weekend. She could also use the time away from Tom to do some research on the Inn, his passports, and a bunch of other questions she didn't need to see him poking into.
The Stewmaker incident had left her shaken to the core. She had not felt that vulnerable or helpless in a long, long time. Part of the reason she was an FBI agent was to never feel that way again. This week she had to confront those feelings in conjunction with her own insecurities about whether she was truly cut out for this job. Maybe she wasn't. And that thought scared her more than anything.
"Hey," Don said as he ran up next to her car and stopped. He saw another tenant out of the corner of his eye and leaned into her window and kissed her on the cheek.
"Hey," she smiled up at him, thinking of how kind he had been when she finally lost it. How she had read in the report that he had accompanied Reddington and risked his life to get information about her.
He opened her door and then opened the back door and grabbed her work satchel.
"I thought you'd stay home this weekend," he whispered as they walked side by side toward the entrance.
"Tom was hovering," Liz said quietly. "And I think I needed to get back."
He nodded and held the door for her while she walked in ahead of him.
"Uh, there are…there's an issue with the one shower," Don said. "There's a plumber from the building dealing with the second washroom."
Liz looked at him surprised. "Everything okay?" Liz asked as she hit the elevator button.
"It's like I said on the phone, condo above us had some issues," Don said. "There was water damage and now they need to replace some pipes. They have been in and out all week."
"All week?" Liz asked quietly as they stepped in the empty elevator.
"I've been here since Wednesday," Don admitted.
"Oh," Liz said, realizing they were going to have visitors and an audience inside the apartment as well and wouldn't really be able to be themselves while others were around.
"It's lucky you were in Philly this week," Don said as the elevator opened and their neighbor Mr. Guthrie smiled at him. "Liz, this is Mat Guthrie, he's next door."
"Nice to meet you," the elderly African American man smiled at her. "My place had some flooding too."
"Mat is an artist," Don said as he wedged his foot in the door to hold it for the man to get inside once they exited.
"Wow, I would love to see your art," Liz said.
"I've got a showing at a gallery a few blocks away in a couple of months," Mat smiled at her. "I'll post something on the board downstairs, and you're welcome to come."
"Thank you," Liz smiled at him.
"Glad I got to meet you, he is one lucky man," Mat said as the elevator doors started to close.
"And he knows it," Liz chuckled and Mat started to laugh as the door shut.
"Good one," Don said as he walked with her toward their place. "He's nice, but I like that he's not inviting us over or anything."
Liz nodded.
"Plumber and possibly the building manager," Don said before he opened the door and they walked inside.
Liz nodded.
"Don!" A man called to him as they walked inside and Don dropped Liz's satchel by the kitchen counter.
"Peter," Don said as he placed a hand on the small of Liz's back and guided her toward the guest washroom. "My wife Liz."
Peter smiled and shook her hand.
"Liz, this is Peter, the building manager," Don said.
"Sorry I was away when you moved in, everything went well?" Peter asked.
"It did, thank you," Liz smiled at him.
"I heard it was windy in Philly," Peter smiled at her.
"I was at a conference, so I didn't get out much," Liz smiled at him.
Peter nodded and pointed toward the ceiling.
"Well, we've cut away all the plaster," he said as he showed them the hole in their ceiling. "And we thought we had the right pipes to replace the piece that's cracked, but it looks like we don't."
Don nodded and Liz looked at the hole in the ceiling with piping pulled apart.
"That's the hard part with buildings this old and ceilings this high, we don't know what we really need until we get in there," he said. "Bill's gone back to a local plumbing shop to see if we can, at least temporarily hook it up, and get your water on."
"The water is still off?" Liz asked as she looked at Don standing sweaty next to her from his recent run.
"I thought it would be on by now," he said, realizing he probably stank.
"We'll figure out a temporary fix and by Monday…"
"We won't have water until Monday?" Liz asked.
"No, we'll get the water going, but probably not fixed properly until Monday," Peter said. "Then we'll plaster it next week and…"
"Good thing we're both out of town for a few days next week," Don said with a smile.
Liz nodded. "Thanks for all of your help with this. It's been a long week and I was looking forward to a nice bath."
"The master washroom will be useable in the next couple of hours," he said. "But count this one out of commission for another few days."
"Thanks Peter," Don said as he nodded and walked with Liz back toward the kitchen so Peter could finish whatever he was doing.
"So, dinner out tonight?" Liz asked him.
"Once I can shower," Don said as he stepped away from her slightly. "Sorry about that."
She smiled at him and shook her head. "We have any food? I didn't get lunch."
"I have some leftover ramen," Don said as he opened the fridge and handed her a take out container.
"The way to a girl's heart," Liz smiled as she took it from him.
Don and she sat down on two stools and they both struggled to make up a conversation that a couple who had been away from each other for days would have. They had a lot to talk about, but nothing that could be discussed with Peter around.
"You hear from your mother about getting her stove fixed?" Liz asked him.
"Uh, yeah, the repair work is ridiculous," Don said. "Cheaper to buy a new one."
"I'll be back when Bill comes," Peter said as he looked around the corner at them.
"Great, thanks!" Don said as he waved at him and then got up to see him out. Don watched the door shut and then clicked the lock shut softly.
"Thank god," Don said as he walked back into the kitchen.
"You've been here since Wednesday?" Liz asked, surprised. He had called her once to ask how she was and Tom had answered and updated Don, she hadn't spoken to him herself.
"They called about the leak and noticed no one was here, I said you were in Philly at a conference, and I was working late at an accident," Don said.
Liz looked at him confused.
"I left the crime scene not long after the ambulance took you and came here," Don explained. "I rolled in in the middle of the night Wednesday."
"Oh," Liz said, dropping her head.
"How are you?" Don asked. "Tom was…brief."
"I'm fine," Liz said. "I slept a lot. Or, at least tried to. I'm sorry I was so….emotional at the…"
"What?" Don asked. "I would have been more worried if you weren't."
She gave him a small smile.
"How are you really?" Don asked her.
She put down the ramen and looked at him briefly before looking away at a picture they had hanging on their entrance wall of a seascape.
"I'm feeling a little lost," she said, honestly. "A lot unsure of my abilities, and doubting whether this type of work is for me."
Don nodded.
"Embarrassed," Liz continued. "I'm sorry."
"Please don't ever apologize," Don said honestly. "That was a fucking horror show. You shouldn't be embarrassed for being human."
Liz wiped at a stray tear and nodded.
"And as far as doubting your career choices," Don said as he nudged the ramen container toward her for her to continue eating.
Liz wiped at her eyes again and sniffled and started to eat.
"In my first year as an agent, I let Malcom Franks get away" he said as she turned and looked at him. Malcolm Franks was wanted in the killing for 5 police officers in DC. "I made a rookie error, a stupid mistake, I had him, and then…I didn't."
Liz looked at him wide eyed.
"I had two broken ribs and a concussion, so I pretended when I was crying in the ambulance it was out of pain, but it wasn't," Don said as he met her eyes. "I was embarrassed, and humiliated, and thinking I should turn in my badge, that I wasn't worthy of it."
Liz took a deep breath, he was literally one of the best FBI agents she'd ever met. Self sacrificing, honourable, efficient, brave…
"What changed?" Liz asked, a couple of stary tears falling still.
"An FBI agent, Clara Wilcox," Don smiled at her. "She was like 2 weeks away from retirement, and she sat me down and said what I just said to you. Never apologize for being human."
Liz swallowed hard and closed her eyes while some more tears fell. Don pulled her into a hug, and she cried harder on his shoulder. He smelt of sweat and musk and old gym clothes, and she didn't care. He was exactly what she needed, had said exactly what she needed, had been exactly what she needed.
"You're going to be okay," Don said softly. "You are Liz, I promise."
She nodded against him and pulled him a little closer.
Then there was a knock at the door and Don pulled back and looked at her red face with tear streaks on it.
"You better go finish the ramen that in the bedroom," he said as he walked toward the door to let Bill or Peter, or whoever was at the door, inside.
Liz went into the bedroom and shut the door. Liz ate her ramen leftovers and put on some music and eventually laid down. She heard Don talking with a couple of men outside, sports turned on the TV, and people coming and going from their apartment. Surprisingly, she fell asleep after a long week of sleeping, she still had more sleep in her.
When she heard someone say "shit" near her, over an hour later, she opened her eyes to see Don Ressler standing in a towel with his back to her shaking out his hand.
"They got the shower working?" Liz asked as she got up onto her elbows.
Don's neck reddened and he looked over his shoulder at her.
"Uh yeah, but only this one," Don said. "I didn't want to wake you."
"It's okay," Liz said as she slid off the bed and went to leave the room.
"They're still out there," Don said to her.
"Oh," she stopped with her hand on the door.
"I just need some clothes to change in the washroom," Don said as he gathered underwear and jeans from a drawer and then walked past her to get a shirt from the closet.
"Don!" Bill called.
"I can…" Liz started.
Don shook his head in the negative. "You were crying in your sleep."
She placed a hand up to her face and felt some dampness.
Don dropped his clothes on the bed, stepped past her, and opened to door, she hid behind it.
"Yeah Bill?" Don asked as he stood in the doorway in nothing but a towel.
"Oh, sorry to interrupt you and the wife," he said with a thick eastern European accent and a dirty edge to his words.
"Just got out of the shower now that we have water," Don smiled at him. "Thanks."
"I will be back Sunday or Monday," he said. "That okay?"
"Whatever you need to do to get our water going," Don smiled at him.
"Good," Bill nodded before he turned to walk away. "I will get Peter if you are out."
Don followed him to the washroom where Bill gathered his things and then Don locked the door behind him after he left.
He turned around to see Liz standing in their living room in her bare feet and looking disheveled from her sleep. He was trying not to think of how pretty she looked in that moment.
"I'll get changed and then I'll leave the master for you to get ready?" Don said gruffly as he walked past her and into the bedroom.
"Want me to call and make a reservation somewhere?" Liz asked as the door shut.
"Yeah, whatever you feel like," Don called through the door.
Don wasn't sure if it was the fact that he'd been worried about her all week, or that he was mad at himself for looking at her like the attractive woman she was, or that he was pissed that she seemed to be falling apart and it didn't seem like her husband noticed, but he decided that after the week they both had had, it was time to get drunk.
They went to a sushi place a few blocks away, Don relishing that all of this was on the FBI credit card, and ordered warm sake with their food. At first Liz had cringed at drinking the warm alcohol, but eventually, it had grown on her and, Don had realized a little too late, that sake was one of those drinks that hit you late and hit you hard. It had been a long time since he'd had it last and he'd forgotten.
After paying the bill and laughing their way back to the apartment, they had said goodnight and gone to their own rooms, Don enjoying the fact that he had put a smile back on her face after the shit that went down this week, and that he had let loose after a week of dealing with reports, plumbers, neighbors, and building managers.
About 10 am on Saturday Don heard someone drop a tool. He quickly got out of bed and grabbed his weapon opening the door to the spare room and shutting it quietly behind him before he tip-toed to the door. He heard Bill mumble to himself and quickly backed away with his gun, not wanting to alarm the man or give himself away.
Why the man was in their apartment without knocking Don hadn't a clue, but his pounding head made him not question this too much before he slipped into the master bedroom and noted that Liz was asleep on the right side of the bed by the washroom. He considered the concrete floor, but then saw the five feet of space that would lay between them on the bed, and Don got into bed on the far left side, clinging to the edge as his head pounded.
If he hadn't been hung over, he probably would have grabbed some pants and gone out to talk with Bill and have a strong cup of coffee, but in his slightly, still inebriated state, with an adrenaline rush followed by a steep adrenaline decline, Don wasn't thinking. His body quickly relaxed, and he was asleep within minutes only to be woken by Liz smacking him over the head with a pillow and standing in front of him in her bra and underwear asking.
"What the hell did we do last night?"
"Nothing," Don said quickly. Followed by "Shhhh!"
"Don't shush me!" Liz snapped.
"Bill may be here!" Don hissed as he got up from the bed and pulled a pair of jeans from a drawer and walked out of the bedroom without doing them up.
He walked to the washroom and noticed that the plumber was gone but his tools remained. Don looked around the apartment and saw no signs of the man, so he retuned to the bedroom.
"He's not here," Don said.
"I'm married!" Liz hissed.
"We didn't sleep together," Don said as he walked toward her. "Well, we did, but sleep, that's it."
"I don't remember…"
"We went to sleep in our own beds," Don said as he did up his pants and reached into the closet to throw her a shirt to put on. "Then this morning…"
He looked at the clock.
"Almost two hours ago, I heard something, and I almost shot the guy, I'm not sure why he was here, but he was," Don said. "I needed to be in the same bedroom as my wife, so I came in here and the bed's big, and the floor's hard, and you were sound asleep. Nothing happened."
The relief on her face was pronounced and Don was a little annoyed that not messing around with him brought her so much joy.
"Nothing happened," Liz repeated as she pulled on his shirt and started to do up the buttons absent-mindedly.
"Well, I nearly shot Bill," Don said as he wiped his hand through his hair. His head was pounding more with all her screaming.
"Why is he in here? Do people do this?" Liz asked as she stood and walked out of the bedroom and toward the bathroom where his tools were.
"Maybe Peter let him in?" Don asked as he followed her, not wanting to think about how nice she looked in his shirt and how you could still see her purple bra under it. He reached into a kitchen cabinet for the Tylenol and took three.
He held them out for her, and she took four and grabbed a glass and drank water with them.
They both leaned against counters looking at each other.
"We shouldn't have drank so much," Liz said as she met his eyes.
"No, probably not," Don agreed.
"I want to crawl back into bed and die," she said as she rubbed at her temples.
"I'll crawl onto the couch and die," Don said as he started for the couch.
"No," Liz said as stepped away from the counter and nodded toward the bedroom. "It's a big bed and there's lots of space."
Don looked at her confused.
"I'm taking my side and you are welcome to yours," Liz said as she walked back toward the bedroom. "Right now, Bill can come and go as much as he wants as long as I can sleep for another couple hours."
Don watched her walk into the bedroom and leave the door open.
He looked at the couch and then looked at the door. He took a step toward the bedroom when there was a knock on the door.
Sighing he walked toward the door and saw Bill on the other side.
"Finally awake huh?" Bill asked.
"Yeah," Don smiled at him.
"I hope you don't mind, when you didn't answer earlier, Peter gave me the key and with it being right next to the front door, I figured I wasn't intruding," Bill said with a smile.
"No problem Bill, part came in early?" Don asked.
"Yeah, should be finished soon," he said as he walked toward the washroom.
"Well, I'll leave you to it," Don said, thinking of the cozy bed waiting for him.
"Actually, can you hold the ladder steady for me?" Bill asked. "I need some leverage and it's a little dangerous on a ladder that high."
Don tried not to sigh.
"Sure, let me just get a shirt," Don said as he left the man, walked into the master bedroom and saw Liz already falling asleep on her side in his shirt. He took a t-shirt from a drawer and quietly closed the door behind him joining Bill, his plumbing work, and his ladder for the next 45 minutes while his head pounded.
To be continued….