AN: I decided to be nice and post all three chapters of the birth at once even though it's fairly long. So here goes... Chapters 81-83.
It was perfectly dark outside, in the early hours of the morning of the 24th of February when three stealthy figures climbed over the gated wall of the Ressler house. The leader was a tall, somewhat formidable looking man who went by the name of Nuck.
They made their way across the lawn and around to the back where they split up with some confusing hand signals.
They were here on a mission for their boss - a certain Mr. Corne Vanz. He was in the business of - well a good number of things, but the one that had put him in prison had been guns.
And two certain FBI Agents - Ressler and Keen by name - had been the ones who had put him away. But he was out now - whether on probation or through some means of his own Nuck wasn't sure.
In the meantime his business had floundered, the loss of power left by his vacancy leaving spaces for everyone to take pieces as they wanted.
And trying to rebuild that had tested his ire. Now he was out for revenge. But the truth was that prestige seemed to give him the right to this revenge without doing so much as lifting a finger himself. The sum of money that he had offered Nuck wasn't one he could turn down. And even if he could, the threat of death for doing so wasn't one he could ignore.
So here he was. Him and his hired guys. Sneaking into the secured home of two federal agents in the middle of the night.
His mission was to extract them and bring them to a certain warehouse where Vanz would meet them. What happened after that? Well he could guess. And it wasn't good. But he was sure Vanz would make them pay.
Getting past the security was easy for an old hand like Vanz. He just disabled it externally. It didn't go off and they let themselves in quietly through the back door.
It was a big house but Nuck didn't think it wise for them to split up. He didn't know much about the agents they were after. Other then that they were agents. Trained in weaponry and self-defense. He didn't think that Vanz knew much about them either. He'd only just gotten out. The second he'd gotten an address he'd sent them. Nuck had tried to convince him to wait but would he listen? Never.
Nuck cursed the man again but stepped out into the dark kitchen. The kitchen lead to the living room which led to the front entrance in a round about way. They hadn't come across bedrooms so those must be on the other side of the hall. Either that or - he glanced up the stairs. But one floor at a time. Especially in a place as giant as this.
Signalling Rusty and Ned, the others with him, he stepped down the hall. Rusty was quiet, just following others, but Ned was not. He'd do anything to get Nuck's job. Anything. Nuck was amazed that he even followed his direction.
He opened the first door on the right soundlessly. A giant bedroom,
- furnished - but empty. Probably a guest room if he had to guess. He could see a door leading off of it but the room was obviously empty.
The second room was painted in purple. It was a little girl's room with frills and lace and teddies. The closet hung open, a tutu in view. The little girl danced.
God, they had kids.
A picture of the little girl hung on the wall. She had dark hair, blue eyes, a dancer's form - young as she was her body was lean and muscled - and a huge smile.
From the one picture that Nuck had seen of the two agents he was after, this was clearly their daughter.
Thankfully the bed was empty, though unmade, and there was no sign of the inhabitant of the room.
Shutting the door he took a deep breath and reached for the next handle.
A bathroom. Empty.
The next room.
God, this hall must have half a dozen rooms.
A little boy's room. The walls were painted red and white, with emergency vehicles everywhere. He had a large farm set up in the corner, toys all over the place. The bed was empty and no little boy was in sight. But a picture of him hung on the wall. His hair was a flaming gingery red, lit by the sun behind him, his face golden and freckled, his smile impossibly wide as he was licked by the puppy in his arms. He was young yet, but solid, his frame vibrant with the potential of youth.
He pulled out the picture in his pocket, just to look again. It was a grainy photo of the two agents walking down the street. Ressler had his arm around Keen, his head was turned and her head fallen back to look at each other, both laughing.
But by God, that boy on the wall was a spitting image of the man under his thumb.
They had two kids.
The next door. A nursery. Painted in white and grey, but with blue furniture and additions that clearly indicated it was intended for boys. There was two cribs. Above one was the name 'Daniel Lincoln' in wooden letters. Above the other 'Luke David'. The nursery was also empty. Was the whole house empty? Had they chosen the wrong night?
He was beginning to think that that would be preferable.
They had four kids.
At least there was no pictures of the babies yet to make him feel bad. Only ultrasound pictures.
There was only one room left in the hall. It was either empty or otherwise very full. He wasn't sure what to expect. He hoped it was empty.
Moving soundlessly further down the hall he stepped up to the door. The house was built thick and so far the agents hadn't heard anything but they would now that the door was opened.
This time when the door opened Nuck found that the room was in fact occupied.
The man and woman lay asleep naked in their bed on their sides, no blankets, just drawing heat off of each other. He paused in the doorway, feeling like an intruder. Both parties were clearly exhausted. The woman obviously because of the burden placed on her body. He could see the giant swell of her belly glaring at him, the odd movement detectable even from where he stood. She wasn't a big lady, in fact, next to her husband she looked tiny. And her belly was not. So they didn't have four kids. Not quite. They were still awaiting the last two. She was safe in his arms and she slept - exhausted. He thought it had been impossible for one person to expand so much, but then he'd never seen a naked pregnant woman. Not this pregnant anyway. No wonder she was tired.
The man - well he was obviously tired too. With his wife in such a state the care of the house and older children must have fallen to him. And not only that, but if their current state was any indication they'd been making love not long before he and his men arrived. That seemed strange for this stage of pregnancy but he supposed that they knew the babies were on the way and wanted one last time before a period of celibacy.
And it must have been a good time. The room smelled faintly of sex and Nuck could see the evidence of the same on the man's uncovered genitals. So he was sleeping a satisfactory hormone-induced sleep. Nuck did know what that was like.
He found himself unable to step any further as the reality of the situation they were in dawned on him.
She was very close to giving birth and they both knew it. And her husband, loving her and wanting to protect her in her moment of need had made plans for the older kids and drawn back with her to the safety and security of their own bed until it was time. Their actions were driven by reason - but it was a reason founded on instinct.
He had a sudden image of a young pair of animals of some sort. Wolves or lions. Something that mated for life. Hiding in the wilderness, the male watching over the female as she gave birth. Then a group of hunters slunk out of the trees, weapons at the ready. The male went crazy, circling his mate and trying to drive them away from her. But ultimately he was outnumbered and outgunned and they died. All of them. The once proud and beautiful creatures, the male with head held high, the female weak and defenseless, the unborn offspring slowly failing to move beneath her fragile thin skin.
He was the hunter. This couple in front of him were the wolves at the hour of their death.
He couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it. Turning he stepped out of the room. The others let him past and followed him back to the kitchen.
"I'm not doing it" he said.
"What do ya mean?" it was Ned.
"Did you see her?" he whispered. "She's literally minutes from labor. He's just lovin' on her, tryin' to take care of them babes. I can't take them. He'll kill them all."
"He'll kill us" said Ned. "I'll do it."
Nuck just shook his head and walked away, letting himself out the door.
Not even a minute later he heard the sound of a door slamming as he walked outside the master bedroom. He stopped to glance in the window to see Ned at the edge of the bed, a gun at the temple of 40-week-pregnant woman, her husband suffering the same fate from the gun of the ever silent Rusty.
They weren't smart men, not at all. Nuck could outplay them.
Ressler swore for the first second that the gun pressed to his temple that it was some sort of nightmare. When he tried to lift his head to look at Liz he found that it was in fact quite real. There were two men there, the other was holding a gun to Liz's head, no masks and it occurred to Ressler's sleep deprived overstimulated mind that that wasn't good. If they didn't care that their faces showed it meant only one of two things. One they were too stupid to remember to cover it up or two, they didn't intend to let them live to describe said faces. Ressler was stuck on the second.
The one guy was talking, mentioning the name of his boss - some Vanz that he and Liz had supposedly put away but who he had no recollection of. In reality he wasn't listening, not as he and Liz were forced out of bed. Liz struggled to sit and he reached for her but the barrel at his temple dove in deep and he couldn't. He had to watch her struggle to her feet instead.
They were roughly shoved into sweats and hoodies that lay on their floor and then promptly had their hands tied behind their back with rope and were marched out the door and down their own driveway. They were almost at the end when he seen Liz stumble just ahead of him. He thought she was going down but she didn't, she just doubled up and groaned. This stopped their would be captureres and he lunged at his rope cuffs. But he couldn't get to her.
Anger welled in his entire being. He knew captivity - had felt it before - and he firmly believed in his own ability to hold out. But his wife. His very pregnant wife was suffering before his eyes and that was a whole new level of torture. He lashed out and cursed and felt a rifle butt strike between his shoulder blades in response.
Then a bag came over his head and for a second he breathed deep at not having to watch Liz struggle anymore. But then he heard her and immense guilt welled up at feeling that way.
"Don?" she asked, her voice wavering even to her own ears. She couldn't see - her entire field of vision was a piece of black fabric. She felt herself being pushed forward, forced into a vehicle.
God, it hurts. It hurts.
Her belly was contracting. She recognized it for what it was and sure enough - as she bent to get into whatever vehicle was in front of her she felt a gush of fluid sweep down her legs. Felt the break of it as it left her and soaked her sweats.
Don. Where's Don? "Don?" she asked again, terrified.
"I'm here" he said from somewhere beside her, somewhere in front and below. He was already in the vehicle. But he must have heard the break of her waters hitting the ground. Their captives sure had because they stopped pressing and Liz was allowed to feel her way into the vehicle herself.
"My water broke" she whispered to Don as she heard the door slam behind her. She still couldn't see and Don couldn't either because she felt him move his body, wiggling next to her on the seat. He twisted and finally settled next to her, wedging his shoulder behind her own.
"I know" he whispered back.
"Who?" she asked. She felt him shrug.
"Why? Ha - how?" she had so many questions. Thoughts flying haphazard through her mind. They'd have to revamp the security system. Thank God the kids weren't home at the time. Who could possibly want her and Don? Why now - when she was in labor with twins? When would her next contraction hit? She couldn't time them.
"I don't know" he whispered again. "I'm so sorry love."
Why was he apologizing? Like he'd arranged this. She scoffed and knew he heard it.
"Not your fault" she said.
He was the thing keeping her sane at the moment. The only thing.
Neither of them could be sure how long they drove. Two more contractions. Ironically that was the best way they had of telling time at all. And how long was that really? Were they 10 minutes apart? 8? 13? They really couldn't know.
But eventually they stopped and were taken from the vehicle and led through a door that desperately needed greasing or a new hinge.
Once inside their head coverings were removed and they could take in the surroundings.
It was a warehouse of some kind. Memories of the last warehouse they'd been in flooded their minds and they weren't good ones. Ressler's legs snapped shut in recollection.
They were led to a wall about halfway down - Ressler could see an open doorway from where he sat and through it a work bench. This is where their captures headed after also firmly binding their feet with rope.
"Don" said Liz again when they left. "The babies. They're coming."
"I know" he said and he wiggled closer to Liz until they touched. "Lean on me" he said and she did. "I'm getting you out of here" he swore. "If it's the last thing I do."
He felt her nod, not trying to be brave for once but believing his words although they both knew he had no way of following through right now. But his words were all she had and she believed him. She knew the depth of his love and the strength it gave him. Felt it even now in the sinew of his muscled forearms.
"How?" was all she asked.
"I don't know" he admitted, "but I'll figure it out." He moved and his wrists snagged behind his back. Stopping he repeated the movement, but this time intentionally. It caught again. The rope that bound his wrists wasn't super thick, but it was tied around twice. But maybe, just maybe, if he could saw through it once? His hands started working sideways in a rhythmic fashion and Liz knew what he was trying to do.
Reddington did not recognize the man that showed up at the door of his hide out house. But he did recognize the name that he gave as his employer. And he did recognize the names Donald and Elizabeth Ressler.
The second was what bid him listen to the story the man was telling with great enthusiasm.
For all he knew the man might be lying to his face. But then again he might not.
Ever since Liz had married Don and taken his last name her own had fallen off the records and for the most part out of the criminal world. This man - whoever he was - knew her as Elizabeth Ressler. That was a decent sign that this was real.
And running the risks up in his mind he decided that this particular one wasn't worth taking.
It didn't take much at all - just a few phone calls - and he had guys headed out to the address that Nuck had given him for his boss' headquarters to call him off.
Time had passed though they couldn't be sure just how much. Hours, likely. Ironically their best way to tell the passing of it was by Liz's contractions.
They were getting much much faster, to the point where they were beginning to worry the both of them. They were looking at minutes now Liz thought, not hours. The labor had progressed quickly but it was her second pregnancy and her body was more then ready. In all likelihood they had truly begun sometime the evening before but she had slept through the initial ones.
As for Ressler, well his wrists burned, dripping blood where the skin and flesh was tearing from his bones, and he was beginning to think that he was rubbing the wall smooth faster then he was sawing through the rope, but he had to be getting close.
They could hear voices in the other room, frantically talking on the phone. Apparently some decision had been reached that their capture didn't agree with but couldn't overrule. A second later they appeared in the doorway of the shop with several jugs of what, judging from the smell, could only be fuel of some kind which they liberally poured all over the place. Ressler sped up his movements, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulders that was running down his arm and making his muscles tremble.
They disappeared again to the other room and Ressler sawed frantically when they were out of sight. He felt the give as the rope gave way and spread his arms apart enough to feel the rope fall to the ground, sticky with his blood.
The voices in the other room grew louder and then they returned, a box with a blinking light in one hand.
"Boss says we got bigger troubles" said the leader carelessly.
Bigger troubles? Then us?
"But just cause we're leaving doesn't mean you are."
Inside of Ned's twisted mind he saw himself being rewarded for the death of the two agents that had imprisoned his boss. If not right this minute then in the future.
And then they left. A door slammed somewhere and then it was truly quiet.
Liz was wracked with pain and she cried out, no longer fearing their captures. Ressler could see tears streaming down her face.
Wiping his bloody wrists quickly on his pants he reached the rope that bound Liz's hands, undoing the knot. Then he did the same for both of their feet.
"We're free" he said, quietly, because the whole situation seemed surreal.
"Don" said Liz again. She couldn't think of anything beyond his name, not through the haze of pain that was her entire world at this moment. "Don".
The sound of her whimpering his name bade him lean closer to her. He pulled her into his lap, brushing the sweat soaked hair back from her brow, running his hands reassuringly down her back and on her belly.
"I'm gonna get you out of here" he said again. All they had to do was beat that bomb. Which well - it wouldn't happen immediately. If experience had taught him anything it's that Ned would not want to be associated with their deaths come tomorrow morning and thus he intended to be well and far away by the time this building went up. They had several minutes.
He bent his head one final time to rest on her belly, but the babies weren't moving. His heart skipped beating for a minute before he recalled that the doctor had said they wouldn't - not while birth was imminent.
"I'm getting you out of here" he swore again, but this time not only to Liz.