Ressler, Listen to Me
Part 12
Author's Note: I suck at action sequences, so I hope this one works. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter with a review.
And, if you have not started reading The Short Game or Agnes, my other WIPs, please do!
ZZZZZZZ
Don Ressler took aim with his sniper riffle and fired six clean shots to take out the men sitting in the driver's seat and passenger seats of the three vehicles Townsend was travelling with. It was quick and silent in the traffic jam that they had created. Red's two people threw small grenades under the vehicles, turning them onto their sides. They approached the vehicles and started to fire on the security personnel who had been upended by the blasts. Civilians ran screaming from the scene and chaos erupted around the small alleyway.
Don quickly took out another security member who managed to walk away from the vehicle with another shot from his place on a roof.
"Go!" He said into his mic that was attached to hers.
He watched Liz emerge from a side street and fire on a window, then fire a second time, he assumed on Townsend. He wanted to watch this important moment for her but needed to watch the scene and protect her.
He saw another man emerge from behind a vehicle and quickly took him out with a shot to the forehead.
His eyes went back to Liz, standing and firing repeatedly on the person in the vehicle, shot after shot going off. Don looked at her confused, was Townsend not dead?
"Liz, what's going on?" Don asked her.
No response.
"Liz! Answer me," Don commanded.
No response.
He watched one of Red's people, Darren, walk up beside Liz and look inside the vehicle and then look back at her as she continued to fire. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong.
"Liz…Keen, answer me!" Don demanded.
No response.
Don looked around and determined that there were no living people from Townsend's organization still there. He threw his riffle into a bag, slung it over his shoulder and ran down the six flights of stairs to the scene.
When he emerged from the building he looked to where Liz should be, and she wasn't. Don's head swiveled around, and he took in the scene of chaos around him. The screaming civilians had all left, one SUV was on fire, and smoke was everywhere.
"Liz, where the hell are you?" Don asked, his voice desperate.
No response.
He ran to the vehicle to see what had happened, and saw Townsend laying there dead, his body and head blown apart by repeated shots fired on him. Don looked at him confused, not sure why Liz had continued to fire. His earpiece suddenly came to life with crackling.
"Where are you?" Don asked.
"She's with me, two blocks south," Darren's voice said.
"Why are you comm'd?" Don asked him as he looked at his watch, determined which direction was south and started to run that way.
"Something's wrong," Darren said.
"She's hurt?" Don asked as he picked up the pace.
"She's unresponsive," Darren said.
Don's heart dropped.
"I see no injuries but…but it's like she's not here," Darren said, unsure.
"Where's Sonya?" Don asked.
"With me," Darren said.
"Which building?" Don asked as he looked around and heard the police coming.
"Dry goods store on the south west corner with a huge display of flowers out front, we're in the alley behind it sitting on the stairs," Darren said.
Don beelined for the alley and saw Liz sitting leaned against a wall with Darren and Sonya looking down at her.
"Liz," Don said as he dropped his bag and kneeled down in front of her. Her face was blank, she was looking at him, but not. He felt for a pulse, it was normal. He held her face in his hands and looked into her eyes, they didn't track and follow him. Her head lolled from one side to the other as he moved her around.
"Liz…Liz…" Don said as he looked at her confused. "Are you hurt?"
He quickly started to look at her back, her front, run his hands all over her to find something that they had missed. Nothing, no injury. She was a rag doll in his hands. He placed his ear next to her heart to confirm it was still strong and beating and felt the gentle rise and fall of her chest against his face.
"How did she get here?" Don asked them.
"I carried her," Darren said. "After I took this off her."
He handed Don Liz's gun.
Don looked back at Liz confused.
"She just kept firing," Darren said. "The man is mince meat."
Don's phone vibrated and he answered, it was Reddington.
"I have just received a report from the Salakau that his entire estate has been destroyed," Reddington said. "And all people in it. I have command of all of his accounts and the police are raiding his estates in the USA, the UK, Singapore and Belize. It's over Donald."
"There's a problem with Liz," Don said as he looked back at her still not completely sure what was happening.
"Is Elizabeth hurt?" Reddington asked.
"She's…I think she's had a mental break," Don said as he looked away from her, he couldn't say that while he looked at her.
"Excuse me?" Reddington asked.
Don put down the phone and turned to Sonya. "Go get the car."
Sonya nodded and left.
Don picked the phone back up. And looked back at Liz, sitting listless against the wall on the dirty ground.
"I'm taking her to your plane," Don said as he swallowed hard. "But we're going straight to the other location. Agnes can't….she can't see her like this."
There was silence on the other side.
"Red?" Don asked.
"I understand Donald," Reddington said. "I will send someone I trust to meet you there and assist with Elizabeth."
Don disconnected and saw the car pull up at the end of the alley.
"Honey, I don't know what's going on," Don said as he leaned into her face and spoke softly. "But you did it. He's gone. And I'm taking you somewhere to rest. Just the two of us, okay?"
No response.
Don reached under her and carried her to the waiting car while Darren grabbed the guns and bags can brought them as well.
He sat in the back seat with her pulled against him all the way to the small air strip. She said nothing, and he kept making sure she was breathing. He needed to lay her down and check her entirely to make sure she didn't have an internal injury or possible head injury.
He pulled out his phone.
"I need a doctor on the flight with us," he said to Reddington. He knew Reddington said he was sending a person, but was it a doctor?
"I have known Dr Lien for twenty-four years," Reddington assured him. "He will meet you there in twenty minutes."
"Thank you," Don sighed as he rubbed at his forehead.
"Donald, try not to worry," Reddington said kindly. "She has been through a great deal and this…closure…must have effected her more than you both expected."
"She's catatonic Red," Don said as he brushed her hair back off her face.
He heard a sigh.
"She will recover, Donald," Reddington assured him.
Don nodded and the call disconnected.
"I know we were supposed to go back to Graz but…" Don said to the two soldiers in the front seats.
"We will get other means out of the country," Sonya answered him.
Don nodded.
"Thank you for taking her out of that situation," Don said honestly.
They both nodded and said nothing. As far as they were concerned it was their job, no thanks were needed.
They arrived at the airport to an awaiting jet and Don carried her on board and laid her down on the sofa.
He pulled up her shirt and looked at her, rolled her onto her stomach and made sure there were no injuries on her back. He checked her spine, it seemed fine as he ran his hand down her vertebrae. Nothing. He pulled down her pants and checked her abdomen, her back, her thighs, nothing. He carefully felt around her head, no signs of trauma. She was in perfect physical health.
"Help me out here, Liz," he said to her as he re-did up her pants and pulled her shirt back down and looked down at her. "What do you need?"
Nothing.
"Come on babe," he said as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Come back to me."
He considered slapping her, like he'd seen in the movies, but couldn't bring himself to do it. The engines started and Don was about to tell the pilot that they were still waiting for the doctor when a man arrived with Darren at the door. He was carrying a large bag that Don knew Darren had obviously searched.
"His ID checks out," Darren said as he nodded toward the demure looking man.
"Doctor?" Don asked.
Don's phone rang and it was Reddington telling him to check Dr Lien for an appendix scar. The man smiled and showed Don the scar.
"He's got it," Don nodded.
"Say hi to Maurice for me," Reddington said. "He will take excellent care of Elizabeth. And I will meet you in…"
"No," Don said.
Silence.
"I need you to care for Agnes," Don said. "We need to know she's safe and not being passed off to another person."
Silence.
"Red, I need this from you," Don said. "So does Liz."
"Fine," Reddington said quietly.
"Thank you," Don sighed before he disconnected the phone.
The man nodded and shook Don's hand then asked him to provide details on what had happened. Over the next 2 hours on the plane the doctor gave Liz fluids, sedatives, completed several tests on her, and administered some drugs that seemed to bring her out of her stupor. She still wasn't Liz, but she could respond to basic questions. She spent most of the flight asleep, with frequent checks, and sitting looking out the window, not really wanting to talk. Don sat and held her hand, encouraged her to eat, and sat with her head on his lap while the doctor explained that she had suffered from a psychotic break brought on by great emotional and psychological turmoil. He suggested Liz would be herself again, after a period of recovery when her emotions and psyche came to terms with what had happened. Don nodded, thinking he needed to know more about her care, but was too tired, scared and scrambled to take much in.
When they arrived in the Azores, she was able to walk to the car. He took their bags and sat holding her hand on the way to their villa, where he'd bumped up the reservation and added a reservation for Dr Lien for a few days. She softly smiled at Don once before she spent the rest of the car ride looking out the window. Her hand barely held his and her body looked like a frail bird; he had not thought the words frail and Liz went together anymore.
When they got to the villa, Don dismissed the man who was there to greet them and show them around citing Liz's need for rest. He walked with her into the expansive living room looking out onto the beautiful bright blue ocean and felt her tug at his hand. He followed her slow path toward the bedroom where she climbed up on the bed and looked at the windows.
"Close them?" she said and Don nodded. He closed the windows, turned the shutters to the closed position and the room fell into darkness.
"Want me to stay with you?" Don asked her as he covered her with a light blanket.
"No," she said quietly.
Don swallowed hard and kissed the side of her face before he left the room.
To be continued…