Wing Yee's 4

Author's Note: This one is a problem for me because she's with Tom and apparently happy. Ugh. I picture this after The Harem.

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Donald Ressler sighed as he stood outside of Wing Yee's. Never in his god damned life did he think he would be attending a birthday party thrown by Tom fucking Keen.

"You going in?" Samar asked as she walked up behind him.

"Yeah," Ressler sighed.

It was then that he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Ressler said, not turning around.

"No, you aren't," Samar said as she forced him to turn and face her. "Look, I know you and I have a bit of a checkered past, that may make you not want to confide in me but…"

"Navabi, I'm sorry I fired you after we were together," Ressler said, finally saying the words that he'd felt like telling her for months but never finding the right moment.

"I know," she said with a nod.

He looked at her perplexed.

"I also know you wanted Liz to find out," Samar said as she unflinchingly looked into his eyes.

He broke her gaze and looked down at his shoes.

"She doesn't know," Samar said. "You see, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out your motivation once I put all the pieces together. You were angry with her, felt like everything was out of your control…"

Ressler swallowed hard. "Samar…"

"And you wanted to hurt her," Samar said as she straightened her back.

He closed his eyes. There was a lot to what she was saying but there was more that she didn't seem to get.

"I did," he said as he opened his eyes and met hers. "And I also wanted to feel again."

She looked at him surprised.

"Samar, you're gorgeous," Ressler chuckled. "It wasn't just about Liz, but, it also wasn't just about you. Had I not fired you…"

A look of honest surprise flitted across her face.

"Anyways, that's water under the bridge now," Ressler said dismissively. "And you and I would probably have killed each other a few weeks in."

"Probably," she laughed.

"We're much better friends, and I also know it wasn't just about me that night for you either," Ressler smirked at her.

"No, it wasn't," Samar admitted.

Ressler nodded.

"Let's get into the party?" Samar asked with a raised eyebrow.

He sighed heavily and looked in the door at the others already gathered.

He opened the door and walked inside with her noting Aram's face fall when he saw them arrive together. Even after a year, even after everything that had changed with Aram and Samar, seeing her outside of work with Ressler felt like a gut punch.

"Look who couldn't find the place?" Ressler said with a smirk. "I found her wandering a block away."

He looked right at Aram and noted his face relax.

"Thanks for coming!" Liz said as she rose from her seat and hugged Ressler and then Samar.

Ressler sat down across from Cooper who was holding Agnes and looked around at Reddington and Dembe who seemed more solemn than usual, Liz and Tom who seemed happier than usual, and Aram and Samar who seemed to be in their own little world.

"Do you want to hold her?" Cooper asked as he held Agnes across the table for Ressler.

"No, I…"

"Ressler, she loves you," Liz called out when she saw his reluctance.

"I've never really held a…" Ressler started and, much to his horror, Liz walked toward Cooper, took Agnes from him and laid her gently in Ressler's arms before he could further object. "Oh, wow, you are little."

"See? You're a natural," Liz said with a smile as she patted his shoulder.

Ressler settled in with the child in his arms and tried to stop his heart from hammering in his chest.

"Did I ever tell you that Ressler's voice was the only one Agnes responded to?" Liz asked everyone.

He felt his face starting to go red.

"Seriously, the second she heard his voice she started to kick and do summer saults and…it was crazy," Liz chuckled as she walked over to Tom, and he placed an arm around her waist looking at Ressler holding his baby. "I used to go to his place at all hours on days when she was super quiet, just so I could feel her move."

"Yes, as I recall you had no regard for the sleep I needed," Ressler countered. If he was going to be embarrassed, he was going to make it on his terms.

"All I'm saying is Agnes loved you before she even met you," Liz said with a smile as the waiter arrived with all the food Tom had pre-ordered. "And how could she not? Look at her falling asleep…"

Everyone looked and, sure enough, Agnes was fast asleep in his arms when she had been fussy with everyone else who had held her.

"I've got the touch," Ressler smiled.

"At putting women to sleep?" Tom quipped.

Everyone laughed and Ressler caught Samar's eye. She had not missed what Liz had been saying, how he had supported her in her pregnancy, how Liz didn't have a fucking clue that he had been in love with her for years.

"No, Ressler is quite the quiet playboy," Samar said. "He just keeps it to himself. But there are many women who are happy to spend time with him."

Tom whistled and Dembe patted him on the back.

Ressler wished he could thank her in that moment for coming to his defence, despite what that may mean to Aram.

"Well, now that we have found out about Ressler's love life," Liz chuckled nervously. "Eat up everyone!"

Reddington stood with his wine glass, and everyone looked at him.

"Sorry, but before we dig in," Reddington said as he looked at the table of people. "I wanted to commemorate the year that we've had. It hasn't always been the best, it hasn't always been good, yet, here we are a family of our choosing celebrating Lizzie's birthday with her beautiful Agnes for the very first time."

Several people 'awww'd' and looked at Agnes asleep in Ressler's arms.

"Happy birthday Lizzie," Reddington said solemnly.

Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them before they dug into the food.

Within minutes Liz was at Ressler's side reaching for Agnes.

"She's fine, Liz," Ressler said, not giving her up. "You get something to eat and then come get her."

"No, you should eat," Liz said as she reached again for Agnes.

"She's good, content," Ressler said as he met her eyes. "Enjoy your party."

Liz looked down at him confused. For a man that, she knew, liked to eat, he was turning down warm food? For a man who said he wasn't sure about holding a baby, he wanted to keep holding her?

She furrowed her eyebrows and took off Agnes' hat and fixed her ginger blonde hair.

"She's very fair," Dembe noted from beside Ressler.

"Yeah, she's a ginger like me," Ressler smiled down at her.

Liz looked at Ressler holding Agnes and the resemblance was pronounced. If she hadn't have known that she had never slept with Ressler, then she would swear Agnes was his child. She looked more like Ressler than her or Tom.

She was just about to say she hadn't noticed the resemblance until that moment when Tom nudged her and handed her a plate.

"Thanks," Liz said as she smiled at him.

"Happy Birthday Babe," Tom said as he kissed Liz and Ressler turned away.

"Thanks," Liz smiled at him before he walked away.

She patted Ressler on the shoulder and looked down at him and Agnes once more.

"She could be yours with her colouring," Liz said quietly.

"Yeah, but she's not," Ressler replied quietly, not meeting her eyes.

Liz furrowed her brow at his strange reply and walked away with her plate.

Ressler sat with the sleeping baby in his arms for another half hour until Tom took her back. He put together a plate and listened to Dembe tell stories about his time in Columbia with Reddington while Reddington sat quietly eating and talking to Cooper. It wasn't the most celebratory of birthdays, after all the birthday girl led them all to believe she was dead in the past year and that left a slightly sour taste in everyone's mouth, despite their best efforts.

Ressler left the celebration early, citing a car that needed to go into the shop early the next morning. He kissed Liz on her cheek, kissed Agnes on the top of her little ginger head and shook Tom's hand before he left. They were a family now and he needed to accept that.

The end.