Are You Trying to Piss Me Off?

Author's Note: For Febressuary 2022–the prompt is the title. WOw-this month has flown!

Let me know what you think!

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Donald Ressler rounded the corner with his gun drawn, clearing the space and checking for suspects when he heard a voice call out that caused him to pause.

"Donald!" Reddington called to him from a place sitting on a fancy sofa complete with lamp and scotch in his hand in the dark warehouse.

"What are you doing here?" Ressler asked him, concerned.

"Waiting for you," Reddington said. "I must say your response time is excellent."

"There's no arms dealers…?" Ressler asked.

"No, but you refuse to speak with me, so I had to do it this way," Reddington said before he took a drink of his scotch. "Come, sit."

"Are you trying to piss me off?" Ressler asked as he holstered his gun and walked toward the man.

"The opposite actually," Reddington smiled at him. "I'm trying to help you."

"I don't need your help," Ressler said, annoyed.

"Au contraire, I think you do," Reddington said. "I have been where you are; living but always grieving and feeling like you still can't let go of the person that won't ever come back. And I must say, you need to move on and not waste the time I did."

Ressler sighed and shook his head.

"I'm leaving," he said before turning to leave.

"Her name is 'Joy' Donald, you must see that as a sign…" Reddington said. "It's almost as if Lizzie is making this happen from the grave..."

"What do you know about her?" Ressler asked, annoyed as he turned to face the man he hated.

"I know she wants to be more than your physiotherapist, and that your shoulder has been better for two weeks but you still keep up with your appointments," Reddington said, nodding to the shoulder he had injured two months ago which sent him to physiotherapy where he was placed in the care of Joy. "I know you're scared to try another relationship after what happened with Lizzie and Audrey."

Joy was a woman in her late 30's with a 12 year old son and had made her interest in Ressler clear. She wasn't like Liz. She was light in a way Liz never seemed, she laughed at stupid jokes, was best friends with her sister, loved her parents, and raised her son on her own when the guy who got her pregnant walked away and didn't look back. She was almost his height and played pick up basketball with a group she kept inviting him to join. He had enjoyed her company, had thought about her a ridiculous amount of time outside of his appointments, frequently thought of stupid jokes he could make at his next appointment to cause her laugh, and kept seeing her even though his shoulder was better. But Ressler still couldn't bring himself to ask her out even though he knew she'd say 'yes'. He had slept with plenty of women over the last few years; sometimes to feel that rush of hormones that was like a drug, sometimes to try and force himself to get over Liz, sometimes because he had been so drunk and high he wasn't sure what he was doing. None of them had been anything but a one-night stand. He hadn't 'dated' in the traditional sense since Liz had died. He wasn't sure he was a person who had anything left to give to another person in a relationship and while he liked Joy, liked her a lot, he was worried he wasn't ready, maybe would never be ready to be with someone else. Worried that, after 2 women he loved being killed in front of him that he shouldn't risk another woman.

But what he didn't get, was how Reddington seemed to know all of this.

"You following me?" Ressler asked, annoyed as he turned and walked back toward Reddington.

"I regret the year you spent in a dangerous place Donald," Reddington said. "I should have..."

"You aren't my keeper!" Ressler snapped at him.

"Someone needs to be," Reddington said casually. "Lizzie would want me to…"

"You don't know anything about what Liz…" Ressler pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"I knew you two had something special," Reddington said. "And that last day in the park, she and I…we talked a lot, and she spoke an extensive amount of our time together about you. And I had always known…but that was the day I really knew."

"Knew what?" Ressler asked; hating himself for needing to know.

"That she loved you Donald, that she wanted a future with you and Agnes. You made her happy and I think she, despite all over her flaws, made you happy as well. I need to make sure that I honour her wishes," Reddington said.

"She's gone," Ressler said, swallowing hard. "There is no future for me with Liz or..."

"And you are still here," Reddington reminded him. "And maybe this Joy woman is just the start to you finding that happiness again, or maybe she will bring you a lifetime of happiness, but you won't know until you take that first step. The first one without Lizzie. A step, Donald, I know Lizzie would want you to take."

Ressler shook his head and started to walk away.

"She would want you to be happy!" Reddington yelled. "Lizzie would want..."

"Next time you want to talk with me, don't fake a crime," Ressler called over his shoulder, angry. When he got outside he quickly wiped at the tears that were threatening to fall as he got into his SUV.

The end.