Reddington closed his eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to keep his patience as it quickly wore thin. The heavyset man snoring on his shoulder was starting to drool on his coat and as he looked to his left, he watched in dismay as the old woman sitting there dropped her teeth in the bowl of oatmeal she was eating.

"Oh my god." He muttered.

He looked over to the window and watched in annoyance as Glen snickered away from the blinds to sit at his desk.

When he walked through the door, he steeled himself, preparing for the headache he usually got from Glen.

"What can I do you for, Red?" He asked with a grin. "If it's oatmeal you're looking for, I'm fresh out."

Reddington grimaced in disgust.

"Say, where's Dembe?"

"I'd rather not subject him to this...Petri dish that you insist on torturing me with." He said, taking a seat. "I need to find someone."

The man behind the desk perked up. "You came to the right place," he said typing on his computer. "I've got about three separate profiles for five different dating sites. I'm pretty sure I've narrowed down—"

"Glen." Red scowled. "This is important."

"Alright, alright, what is it?"

"Doctor Alice Karlsen." He sighed exasperatedly.

"Uh-huh. And what is the good doctor's practice?" Glen asked.

"I don't know."

"Any idea where I should look?" Glen eyed him over his glasses. "Or what she looks like?"

"Start along the east coast." Reddington suggested.

Glen sighed and put his glasses down on the desk. "You realize I have better luck pickin' up a turd by its clean end than I do finding this woman, right?"

"I understand."

"Alright. Then I want a private jet." He smirked, crossing his arms.

"To where?!" Red asked incredulously. "I lent you one the last time, and I still haven't heard from the pilot."

"She's fine." Glen replied, batting his hand. "She ditched me in Puerto Rico. Anyway, I want different jet. To anywhere. Maybe this time with a blonde."

Reddington sat back and sighed, rolling his jaw.

The sun was just beginning to rise. Liz hung her head as she sat in the back of the transport vehicle. With her hands cuffed behind her back, she closed her eyes and sighed.

He betrayed us.

She searched through her head for any reason as to why the one person who's been watching over her whole life would try to kill her best friend and land her in prison.

Liz looked over at Ressler, who sat, staring at his boots. She couldn't help but feel responsible. He would've been fine, surviving out in the woods on his own, until she led a bunch of armed men to him. And now here he sat, on his way to being imprisoned for the rest of his life. Maybe even executed.

She grit her teeth and sighed in frustration. He was probably blaming himself. For putting her in this situation.

"You okay?" He asked, pulling her from her thoughts and making them true.

She was right. He was worried about her.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking him in his tired eyes.

"For what?" He asked, surprised. "You did everything you could. We both know it was only a matter of time."

Liz sighed and looked away. "You could've been happy out there in the woods. Because of me, you had to go back on the run...and you almost died."

He chuckled dryly and shook his head. "I was hopeless out there. Every day was just… trying not to starve, or freeze to death, or go insane. You saved me from that, Liz."

She looked at him, searching his eyes and finding sincerity. Before she could respond, however, she was caught in a blur of loud screeching tires and crashing metal.

Hands behind her back, Liz could only try to brace herself as she was thrown around the truck. She felt every hard surface pummel her limbs and her body, but as quickly as it happened, everything was still.

She was on her side, head spinning and the taste of blood in her mouth. She could hear shouting and gunshots coming from outside.

"Liz." Ressler groaned.

She looked around frantically until he squirmed and she realized she had been laying on him.

"Sorry." She grunted as she attempted to sit up.

As soon as they found their bearings, the metal door burst open, revealing men armed with tactical gear and rifles.

"Get out, now!" One of them yelled.

Liz looked up and realized that they weren't with the bureau. She could still hear the firefight going on outside, gunshots still echoing around them and bullets ricocheting against the truck. They were both pulled up harshly, the armed men shoving them out of the truck and escorting them somewhere.

"Who sent you?" Liz asked loudly, though they didn't care to respond. "Was it Reddington?"

Still handcuffed, they were led into a nearby alley and forced up the fire escape, metal barrels of assault rifles poking into their backs until they stood on the roof of a building. From their vantage point, they could see the chaos unfolding below. The team that had come to arrest them were pinned down by automatic gunfire, taking cover behind their vehicles as a large company surrounded them. Liz could see Meera and Samar among them, being overwhelmed by the firepower of the unknown group.

"Hey, watch out!" Ressler yelled over to them suddenly before being yanked back from the edge of the roof by the armed men.

The two agents looked up just in time to see the men taking aim and spraying a barrage of bullets at them. Thankfully, Ressler's warning allowed them to reposition away from the gunfire.

"Shut him up! Where the hell is our extraction?" Shouted one of them.

Liz turned and noticed just in time as one of the men beside them slammed the butt of his gun against Ressler's head, knocking him out. Amidst the gunfire and chaos, she could hear the unmistakable sound of a helicopter approaching, until she took the same treatment Ressler got and fell to her knees, succumbing to unconsciousness.

The second he heard the elevator doors opening, Aram rushed across the war room to greet Meera and Samar. As the two agents stepped off, he approached them with concern while Cooper descended from the stairs.

"Are you okay?" He asked them worriedly.

"We're fine," Samar said with a smile while Meera nodded.

"What happened out there?" Cooper asked.

"We were ambushed." Meera began. "The transport vehicle was hit, then we were surrounded and pinned down."

"Whoever it was, they have some serious firepower." Samar said grimly. "Took out half the squad we were with and escaped on a helicopter."

"I didn't think Ressler was so connected." Aram pondered. "To have enough to go against HRT."

Meera and Samar gave each other a loaded look.

"Actually…" Meera added. "We're not sure it's Ressler."

Cooper and Aram both stared in surprise, waiting for an explanation.

"We were pinned down and they started to flank us." Samar explained. "We wouldn't be here if he hadn't called out to us."

"He hasn't escaped. He's been kidnapped. Along with Agent Keen." Cooper concluded.

"That doesn't prove he's innocent, of course." Samar stated with crossed arms, drawing Aram's eyes.

"And Agent Keen?" Aram challenged.

The four of them merely remained silent on the matter, not wanting to think about the possibility of her being a terrorist. As they stood there, the elevator opened again, and a familiar face stepped out.

"Whatever the case, we need to find them." Cooper said, eyeing the woman who had just arrived with confusion. He then turned back to his team and spouted off orders. "Navabi, contact Metro P.D. and find out how there's a small army roaming around in the middle of a lockdown. Aram, I need you to find that helicopter. Something like that couldn't have gotten out of the city unseen. Malik—"

"Agents, you can go ahead and disregard those orders." Cynthia Panabaker said with a serious face.

The three of them looked back and forth at their superiors, floored by the order.

"Excuse me?" Cooper asked, suddenly irritated.

"We need to talk, Harold." Panabaker said as she waited for no reply and walked up the stairs to his office.

Ressler sighed as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Rolling his shoulder, he stretched his neck from side to side, attempting to relieve some of the soreness. Getting home from a long day of following a dead lead was bad enough. Having to do so at two in the morning, when he had to go back to work in just a few hours, was exhausting.

He yawned as he closed the door. And as he toed off his shoes and began to trudge his way to his room, his tired eyes widened when he caught a familiar smell.

In the dark room barely lit by the streetlights and the moon streaming in from outside, he could smell the comforting scent of Chinese food. Looking over at his couch, he could see a familiar shape: Liz, asleep on her side with a throw blanket over her form.

He smiled a little, then went back to being confused when he realized that he didn't know why she was here. He walked over and crouched beside her, throwing his suit jacket on a nearby chair.

"Liz?" He said gently, his hand on her shoulder.

"Mmm." She mumbled.

"Liz." He repeated, a little louder.

She woke with a deep inhale, her eyes still groggy as she blinked away the sleep. When she realized he was home, she quickly sat up.

"Oh shit...uh, surprise!" She said awkwardly.

His eyebrows stitched together, "Yeah...it is. What's the, uh...occasion?" He sat down on the couch next to her.

She gave him a big smile. "Well...when you told me they picked you to lead a high-profile case, I figured we should celebrate." She looked at her phone and her face fell when she saw the time. "...But I guess that meant you'd be a bit busier, huh?"

He gave her an apologetic look. "Yeah…sorry about that. If I'd known you'd be here…"

"It's fine." She brushed it off amiably. "I'm not sure if you'd be too excited about cold Wing Yee's, but I got something else for you."

Ressler raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Liz then reached over into her purse and pulled out a small, black box. She then handed it to him, barely able to keep the excitement off her face.

Ressler flipped open the lid with his thumb, and his breath caught at the sight. Nestled inside was a watch, its sleek silver gleaming with the small amount of light from outside and the face was a stunning, deep navy blue that matched his wide eyes. The second hand ticked around efficiently, each beat gliding over the uniform notches with a silky gold that stood out starkly against the background with the other hands.

"Oh, Liz…" he breathed. "This is…"

"Maybe you can use it to come home at a reasonable time." She said, nudging his arm.

Ressler laughed, rolling up his sleeve to take off his old watch and replace it with her gift.

"Wow," he remarked, turning his wrist to admire the watch. "Perfect fit."

"I may have...snuck in here a few days ago and grabbed one of your other watches to get the size." She smirked.

"You broke into my apartment?" He scoffed.

"Hey, it's not breaking in - you gave me a key! And it's right back where you left it."

He shook his head with his trademark grin and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thanks, Liz. I love it."

"You deserve it." She said softly.

When they pulled apart he shared a look with her. She then sighed and stood up, grabbing her purse. "Well, I should get going. You need to get some rest. You look like crap."

He chuckled at that. Part of him wanted to tell her to stay; to sit beside him and enjoy the now-cold dinner she'd been kind enough to bring him. But another part knew that he really needed sleep and that she probably had something to do in the morning as well.

So instead, he gave her another grateful smile and walked her over to the door.

"Thanks again, Liz. Have a good night...er...morning, I guess." He looked at the time and admired the watch again. "This is an amazing gift."

She stood still at the door for a moment, then leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm proud of you, Don." She gave him one last smile and walked away.

Ressler sighed as he sat in yet another truck surrounded by a convoy. With his hands still cuffed behind his back, he stroked his thumb over that same watch. It suddenly weighed heavily around his wrist, the formerly pristine gift now had scratches around the band and the glass over the face had been cracked. He could feel his dried blood stuck to what he now considered to be a priceless treasure.

He didn't know how long they'd been traveling, but he knew it was bright out. Liz had her head on his shoulder again, her shoulders swaying gently as the road went on. Despite the circumstances, she had managed to fall asleep. Of course, with what they'd gone through he was sure that she was exhausted. He knew he was.

Ressler looked over the bruises and scratches that he could see. Regardless of all her injuries, his focus was still drawn by the scent of her hair so close to his face. That familiar aroma he'd grown accustomed to.

I'll get you out of this, Liz. I promise.

"Tell me you're kidding." Cooper said.

"We had an agreement, Harold." Panabaker replied. "You watch my back and I watch yours. And I'm tellin' you right now - you need to back off."

"Ressler's got Agent Keen with him." He reasoned. "Without her, this deal with Reddington falls apart. I can't do my job if I abandon this case."

"You won't have one if you chase those men."

"What the hell does that mean?" He demanded.

Panabaker sighed. "The people who took Ressler and Agent Keen are from a private military intelligence organization. One that our government happens to be on good terms with."

"You're telling me that the government is going to let a private military company get ahold of Ressler? You know what he's capable of."

"I also know that this organization is the same one our country uses for covert operations, to which the government likes to remain unattached." She snapped. "Harold, one man-sized nuke is nothin' compared to all the ones that could be set off by the dirt they have on us."

Cooper leaned back in his chair, in utter disbelief that the government is in bed with such a dangerous entity.

"You want me to look the other way after one of my best agents is missing." He grumbled. "And I'm supposed to just let a suspected terrorist go?"

"You've worked with Reddington, you shouldn't have any problem doin' just that." She retorted. "And don't you worry about Ressler, we will have words about him."

He sighed, taking off his glasses and squeezing the bridge of his nose. "So what do you suggest?"

"I suggest you find a way to pull Reddington's string without Agent Keen and make him sing, or you can tell your taskforce to start polishing up their résumés."

When the truck finally stopped, Liz and Ressler were once again forced out of the vehicle by the armed men and escorted towards what seemed to be a large warehouse. They had no clue where they were, other than the fact that it was by a port.

They found their way inside and were led through a maze of industrial shelves and shipping crates until they reached a large freight elevator in the back of the warehouse. They descended below ground and Liz was shocked when the doors opened. What looked like a base of operations, not unlike the Post Office, greeted them, complete with high-tech equipment and staff, as well as several armed men standing at the walls, keeping the place secure.

They were then brought to what seemed like a medical wing, and told to wait in a small room, still surrounded by armed guards. Liz could only shoot a concerned glance at Ressler, who returned it; they had no clue what to expect. After a few minutes, the door behind them opened and a familiar voice found its way into their ears.

Liz felt as if her throat was suddenly dry. Her eyes widened and heart pumped into overdrive when she turned around on unsteady legs.

"Hey, Liz," Tom said with a smile. "Welcome to Halcyon."