The Long Game

Part 31

Author's Note: We know what happens in the series and what's coming here—a lot of angst and heart ache. Just saying, be ready.

Set during Vanessa Cruz.

If you have not checked out my other stories Ressler, Listen to Me and Agnes, please give them a read.

Please leave a review.

LLLLLLLLL

Liz was sitting on the bed in her motel room thinking how her life had devolved to this point. She was without a home, without a husband, and without a clue about the circumstances of her early life and how they connected her to Reddington and the Cabal and all the other shit that happened in her life. In truth, she had been drinking too much wine and feeling sorry for herself in her pitiful motel room. It seemed fitting that she shared the special bottle with Ressler and had almost consumed the entire bottle of fancy wine on her own.

This morning she kissed Tom in the dark. The man who had made her miserable, she kissed. And the other man who made her miserable, Reddington, she followed around like a lost puppy anxious for any crumbs of information he dropped about her mother, her background, or her identity.

"What is wrong with you?" Liz asked herself, raising the glass to her mouth and swallowing another mouthful of the ruby liquid. It was really good wine.

She knew what was wrong, she was broken. She was a vortex, that sucked all bad things and bad people toward her in a shit storm that was Liz Keen's life. She wasn't any good for herself, how could she possibly be good for anyone else.

"Sam, I wish you were here," Liz said softly as she looked at the painting across from her of the sailboat battling a storm. "You would know what to do. You would…help."

Liz swallowed and wiped at her eyes, she had cried a lot earlier, but the drunker she got the less tears she shed. There were only a few strays left.

She leaned her head back against the wall behind her and watched the ship for a long, long, time. The storm was her and that ship was anything good in her life, they were battling for control. She would overtake the ship, she could see it based on the waves that were crashing up, the lurch of the hull, and the dark clouds rolling in; the storm had just started.

Liz took a deep breath.

"The darkness," she sighed.

The darkness is what caused her to stab Reddington in the neck, to poison a man to get him to confess, to lie, cheat, steal…she was, shockingly, comfortable in the darkness and that didn't scare her as much as it should. It should have scared her more than it did. Instead, it called to her, beckoning her…there was a naturalness about the darkness that she took comfort in. Liz was as much herself there, as she was in the light. Did everyone feel that way?

There was a knock on the door to her room and, if it was Tom, she wasn't sure if she was going to punch him or kiss him. When she opened the door, she was surprised by the person standing in jeans and a hoodie on the other side.

"Ressler?" Liz asked him.

"Hey, can I come in?" He asked, he was edgy, and she didn't know why.

"Sure, of course," she said as she leaned back against the door and stumbled slightly.

He furrowed his brow and took in her appearance, her untucked shirt, dress pants, messy bun, and rosy complexion.

"You've been drinking," Don said as he eyed the open bottle on her bedside table and the glass sitting mostly empty beside it.

"Want a drink?" Liz asked. "Reddington bought it for me for my birthday. It may be a week's salary."

"I'd like to know what a week's salary tastes like," Don smiled at her as she walked toward the side table and unwrapped another glass and poured him a large amount.

Liz handed him the glass.

"This may be too much salary," Don joked as he looked at the amount in the glass. "Reddington bought you this?"

Liz nodded and poured some more for herself. "Cheers"

Don walked toward her and clinked their glasses. "Cheers Liz. Two night in a row with the wine?"

Liz smiled. "The other one was different."

"Different how?" Don asked.

Liz sat on the edge of the bed and invited him to do the same.

"My father, Sam, and I harvested the grapes and made that wine when I was a child," Liz said. "Reddington had a bottle, I'm not sure how or why…but he did, and he gave it to me and told me to share it with someone special. "

Don nodded, he had been that special person.

"Who is more special than you?" Liz asked as she smiled at him.

He smiled back and blushed. What could be more cute than that? She needed to stop being so morose and appreciate the good man that was before her. Forget Tom, forget the darkness, she could be in the light and ridiculously happy with this man. This man, who wanted her. This man, who she loved.

She watched him take a drink of his wine and nod.

"This is either the best wine I've ever drank or the worst," Don said as he looked into the glass.

"How do you figure?" Liz asked him.

"It's the best in taste, but my palate is used to the $20 a bottle stuff, so it's the worst because I am never buying a bottle of wine this expensive myself, so I'll never know this again," Don said.

Liz tilted her head and looked at him. He was getting all rehab-philosophical again.

Don took another drink.

"Lyle wants me to join Narcotics Anonymous," Don said.

"Why, is he worried you'll relapse?" Liz asked.

"No, he thinks I am ready to join a community," Don said with a shake of his head before he took another drink. "I said I'd try,"

Liz nodded and placed a hand on his knee. "I think that's smart. You can have Lyle and a community, and you'll always have me."

Don looked at her and smiled and placed his hand over hers.

"Want to do dinner and a movie this weekend?" Don asked her, thinking of their two nights in Baltimore. "I may even make you my 3-cheese mac & cheese."

"Well, with a weekend like that planned, what girl could refuse?" Liz smiled at him. "It'll be nice for it to just be the two of us again."

Don nodded.

"Oh, speaking of which," Don said as he reached into his jacket pocket. "I think you have one husband too many in town?"

He handed her an envelope and she looked inside. All of Tom's passports.

"Ressler, how did you…?" Liz asked astounded.

"You said he needed them to disappear, and you wanted him to go away, so now he can," Don said as he drank back the last gulp of his wine.

"You could get fired for this," Liz said as she looked at him in disbelief.

"A reprimand at best," Don scoffed. "If it gives you some peace, it's worth it."

Liz looked at him and then turned and saw the ship in the picture in front of them.

She was the storm that was going to take this strong beautiful man down. Right now, it was just the hull, but soon she would engulf him and there would be no returning. It started with this small compromise, but how many more would there be in her name? How many more times would he put himself in harm's way for her sake, because he loved her? The one thing good thing Liz could do with her life was save him from her. It would kill her, but she needed to do this. She needed to know she did one good thing.

"Thank you," she said as she met his eyes. "And thanks for sharing both bottles with me. You're a good man Don Ressler; a man that's too good for me. And I love…" Liz stammered and corrected herself. "I just love that you are always there for me and on my side."

"Always," Don said.

He smiled at her and got up and placed his glass on the table.

"I'm also a good man who knows when a woman starts getting all sappy after too much to drink, I need to make my exit before we both regret me staying," Don said with a smirk. "Sweet dreams Liz."

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left her hotel room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Liz sat staring at the sailboat in the storm for the longest time, trying to think of a way the sailboat survived, but there wasn't one. No matter how many ways she turned it around in her head, the sailboat was always consumed by the storm.

To be continued….