Wait

Author's Note: Just a quick one shot that may or may not turn into something larger. Set during season 3 right after her capture.

Let me know what you think.

EEEEEEEEEE

Ressler stood nearby as Keen was being processed by the head guard at the jail where she was being held until her trial. She had been on the run with Reddington, shot the attorney general, and he had committed an act of war to save her life not too long ago. It had been a busy few months and saying it had strained their relationship was putting it…mildly.

Liz had placed all of her belongings in a tray and was standing waiting for the next direction. Her body exhibited signs of defeat; her posture slightly slumped.

"I will need to perform a body cavity search," the guard said.

"No," Ressler said, coming out from the stupor he had been standing in throughout the process.

"Excuse me?" The guard asked him.

"She will not be subject to…"

"It's fine Ressler, it's their…" Liz started as she yawned.

"No," he said as he stepped forward, his gaze leaving nothing to the imagination.

"If a body cavity search can't be performed then we will need to do a full body x-ray for signs of any hidden weapons or drugs," the guard explained.

"She isn't carrying any," he said, very sure of himself.

"As much as you are sure," she said as the guard met his gaze. "It's protocol."

"I'm calling…" Ressler started to take out his phone.

"Ressler, it's fine," Liz said, tiredly. It had been a long twenty-four hours of running, evading, being captured, staying overnight at the post office, and now this.

"You choose the x-ray?" The guard asked Liz, happy she was, at least, being co-operative.

Liz nodded.

"Any plates, rods, or other metal items in your body?" The guard asked.

"No," Liz shook her head.

"Any chance you could be pregnant?" The guard asked.

"No," Liz said tiredly.

"Please follow me into…"

"Wait," Ressler said loudly, sleeping in front of Liz and blocking her path while he starred down the guard.

As soon as the pregnancy question came up it was like his mind started to scan through Liz vomiting this morning, Liz saying her stomach had not been right for weeks, her saying she'd been tired, not sleeping well, and felt off.

Ressler turned around and faced Liz. She looked at him tiredly, she didn't have the energy or the desire to fight anything anymore and she needed to sit soon because she was feeling a little dizzy.

"Ressler, please," she said as she looked into his eyes. "Just let them process me according to their protocols so I can get to bed. I'm exhausted."

He leaned in close so his face was inches from hers.

"And you may be pregnant."

The shock on her face caused her to pull her head back and away from him.

"No, I can't…" she stammered, trying to think of the last time she got her period.

"Tired, vomiting, dizzy, nauseated all the time," he listed, his fingers popping out one at a time from the palm of his right hand as he said them.

She shook her head confused and felt even more dizzy.

"I need to sit," she said before she felt her legs start to give and both Ressler and the guard lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Here," he said as he hooked a steel chair with his foot and dragged it over so they only had to move her a foot to sit on it.

He crouched down in front of her, scared she would topple forward and looked up at her from below.

"Can she get a glass of water?" He asked the guard and she nodded to the other guard in the room who left to retrieve it.

"Could you be pregnant?" The head guard asked her.

"I didn't think…" Liz said as she met Ressler's eyes with her own wild eyes. "I…there's no…wouldn't I…"

"Liz, have you had your period the entire time you've been on the run with Reddington?" Ressler asked very specifically.

She swallowed hard and shook her head in the negative and a couple of fat tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"We have pregnancy tests that you can…" the head guard said.

"She'll need one," Ressler said, interrupting. It was then that he noticed he had his hands resting on the tops of her thighs and he pulled them down so they were more on her knees, supporting her from falling.

Liz nodded and the head guard got on a walkie and asked for one to be brought to the room.

"Jesus Christ," Liz said as she looked at him overwhelmed.

"You don't know," Ressler said. "But you'll know in a few minutes."

The guard returned with a small cup of water that she downed in one gulp and then handed back to her.

"Thank you," Liz said.

Ressler took a deep, audible breath and stood, staying close to her, but no longer fearful she would topple forward.

"Have you felt sick?" The guard asked her, kindly.

Liz nodded. "For a couple of months."

"Sore breasts?" The guard asked as she eyed Ressler, who was walking in a tight circle next to the inmate.

"Yes," Liz said. "Dizzy, trouble sleeping…I can't look at raw meat…"

The head guard folded her hands in front of her.

"Honey, I'm guessing you're pregnant," she said as she looked down at Liz. "But what do I know? I've only got four kids."

Liz chuckled nervously and looked up at Ressler, worried.

Another person walked into the room and handed the head guard a test.

She handed it to Liz and gestured to the toilet on the other side of a half-wall in the corner of the room they were in.

"I'll…" Ressler said as he pointed to the door, thinking he would leave for this one part of her admission to give her some privacy.

"Please stay," Liz said as she walked quickly toward the half wall, dropped her pants and peed on the stick before he would even have a chance to leave. She pulled up her pants, placed the stick on the half wall and washed her hands quickly.

"It's a one-minute test," the head guard said as she set the timer on her watch.

Ressler nodded.

Liz leaned against a wall and eyed the test from a distance as if it was a bomb about to go off.

"If she is…" Ressler started.

"If she wants and can afford an abortion, they are legal, and we will make the arrangements. If she decides to have the baby, we'd provide prenatal vitamins, doctor's visits, and sonograms until she gives birth," the guard explained. "She would get transferred to a different facility prior to her due date where she would give birth and, as per penal code, her child could stay with her in prison for up to 8 months."

Ressler swallowed hard and nodded. He'd never had to think about what happened to pregnant women when arrested and what that meant for them and their child.

"Unless the father wanted to take custody of the child upon it's birth," the head guard continued. "But we find most men are trying to not claim paternity, not readily admit the child of a female inmate is theirs."

Liz started to cry as she leaned her head back against the wall behind her.

Ressler walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. That was all it took for her to breakdown in his arms and start to sob loudly.

The head guard looked at them strangely. She knew the woman being taken in was an FBI agent, and the man was a big shot in the FBI, but she had not witnessed this sort of behaviour between an arresting officer and the arrested person before.

The head guard's watch started to beep and the FBI agent and the prisoner's heads turned toward the test sitting on the half wall a couple of feet from them. She let out a loud sob and he closed his eyes and swore under his breath.

The head guard walked toward the test and looked at the positive result.

"Congratulations?" She asked as she looked at the woman now pulling away from the FBI agent.

Liz laughed sadly.

"Congratulations," she said as she looked up at Ressler.

He swallowed hard.

They were having a baby.

The end? To be continued? I'm still thinking….