I Told You So

Author's Note: For Febressuary 2022 a short story that is in keeping with the theme of something Ressler said. I live in an AU keenler world….

Let me know what you think.

WWWWWWWWWWWWW

"Ressler," he said into his phone when the private call came through.

"Hey," she said on the other side.

"Thank god, I've been worried about you," he sighed as he closed over the door to his office so no one would hear his conversation with her. "You're okay?"

"I'm…I'm…fine," she said quietly but he could tell from her breathy voice she was anything but.

"Your mom," he said softly into the phone.

He heard a sniffle on the other side.

"Liz, I…I'm so sorry," Ressler said. "Where can I…what can I do to help?"

"Nothing," Liz said as her voice broke.

"Where are you? I'll come to you and…and we can talk and figure out a solution that…" Ressler started.

"No, no," Liz said as she sniffled. "I told him if he hurt her there was no going back, and now there's no going back."

He could hear some determination in her voice; her mother's death at the hand of Reddington had obviously affected her emotionally but also gave her purpose and focus.

"Liz, let's talk and…"

"Did you mean what you said?" Liz asked him suddenly. "In your truck before Reddington's goons grabbed us?"

Ressler furrowed his brow, did she mean helping Dom? He was dead.

"When you said you were the closest to family I've got?" Liz asked him.

"I meant it," he said quietly. "I care about you Liz, I don't want anything bad to happen and I think that you need family and I'm your family. We're going to figure out a way to…"

"I need you to take Agnes," Liz said quietly, and he heard a hitch in her voice. "I need to end this with Reddington, and I need to know that she's safe and loved and protected and you are the person, the only person, I trust to do that."

Ressler knew in that moment, despite his doubt in his ability to care for a 7-year-old, she needed assurances from him.

"Of course," Ressler said. "I will keep Agnes safe until you can…"

"I'm sorry I didn't…I've always kept her separate from you and I think, in my mind, it was to preserve a memory of Tom that she may have, but…" Liz stammered.

"It's okay Liz, right now that doesn't…" Ressler swallowed hard.

They had been involved on and off for almost a year, for the last couple of months they had been off. Ressler was a little hurt that Liz hadn't asked him to be part of Agnes' life besides the odd interaction and that had resulted in an argument leading to them being off for the last while.

"No, it does," Liz said softly. "I'm sorry Ressler, you were right, and I was doing it all wrong."

"Doing what all wrong?" Ressler asked, confused.

"Being in a relationship with you," Liz said.

He swallowed hard; there was always a push-pull with them, and he always wondered if one time when Liz pushed him away it would be firmly back into the 'friend zone' to stay.

"Liz, we can talk about us another…" Ressler said, trying to not address what he was thinking was the elephant in the room.

"You mean so much to me, and I haven't done this well or been fair to you in all these months," Liz continued, ignoring his comment. "Ressler, I wish I had done this right, so you were less of a stranger to her, so she knew how important you are to me so…"

He could sense her rambling and was worried what was to come next; Ressler took a deep breath, preparing himself for the emotional hit that he felt was about to happen, pushing him firmly back into the 'friend zone' with Liz.

"I want us to be a family," Liz chuckled into the phone. "And I've been doing the worst job of making that happen and when you said…when you said you were the closest to family that I had, I knew you were right. And I knew that I needed to stop trying to prevent us from being a family with Agnes for some memory of Tom she only has because I have told her about him, and instead let her build memories with you and me."

Ressler closed his eyes and smiled. She had said the unexpected, and everything he'd wanted her to say for over a year. Instead of the emotional punch of rejection, he'd received the emotional punch of commitment and that took a moment to process before he spoke again.

"I'd like that Liz," she said softly into the phone. "I'd like to be a family with you and Agnes."

She sighed into the phone, and he could sense she was smiling on the other side.

"I'm sorry I'm making you an instant dad," she said with a light chuckle. "But if anyone can rise to the occasion it's you Don."

His smile grew, she used his first name rarely and usually in the bedroom. He had missed her these last couple of months when they'd pulled apart again.

"I just want you home safe Liz," he said quietly as he closed his eyes and thought of the challenge of taking care of Agnes that was ahead of him; a bachelor for forty years with only occasional experience with his nephews. "And Agnes and I will be there when you finish this, okay?"

"Okay," she sighed into the phone.

The end.