I am amazed by all that we can fake…
By Peace_Love_on_Planet_Earth
Fandom: The Blacklist
Pairing: Lizzington
Summary: Lizzy confronts Red about the death of Mr Kaplan.
A/N: End scene from 4x11 The Harem. The one where Lizzy is straighter than a ruler. Very last scene with the two of them in the restaurant which was longer than previous eps.
Dembe is sitting close by but lets have him go to the kitchen. Red really wasn't playing ball in this, he just didn't want to crack but we've got some emotion from him instead because we know how emotional he gets over Kate. I like the idea that Elizabeth realises that she can push him and maybe wants to see how far she can before he reacts. I also like the idea that Dembe's loyalty isn't in question at this point but in a couple of eps it will be.
Title and subtitle are from the song Twisted by Aron Wright which was used in this scene.
I found this one quite a challenge but I think mainly because I've had a rough couple of days and my brain wasn't having it.
I am taking liberties with how long I think it was when Red thought Lizzy was dead. Judging from Agnes's development, I'm going to a couple of months minimum.—
The World is Twisted…
The restaurant was empty when she arrived, just the maitre'd at the front by the door. He showed her to a reserved booth, in front of the bar. It was a nice place, upmarket with big windows. She didn't have to wait long before Reddington entered with Dembe. Apprehension and anger mixed in her belly. She glanced up as he approached and then sat down opposite her, placing his hat on the table. Dembe stood for a moment before retreating to the kitchen sensing tension in Elizabeth's stance.
She sat back in her seat, her posture somewhat rigid, her coat unbuttoned but pulled almost closed across her chest,
'Emma's disappeared.' She stated as he settled into his seat and unbuttoned his coat. He sat back his hands clasped on the table in front of him, 'You got to her before we could?'
'Yes.' He stated simply, reaching into his coat pocket to retrieve a hard drive that contained the WITSEC list. 'The list…' He affirmed, pushing the drive across the table toward her. Their eyes both fell on the drive before Elizabeth spoke again,
'She betrayed you, so you killed her…' She looked up at him, her eye brows raised in a look of accusation. 'Just like you killed Mr Kaplan' Red's mouth was open, a frown on his brow, he turned away from Elizabeth to glance toward the kitchen where Dembe had remained. She took the hard drive from the table and purposely looked away from him, her chin trembling slightly and her eyes already glistening with tears.
'Elizabeth…' His gaze returned to her but she cut him off,
'And I'm just supposed to look the other way, right?' Her anger was evident, she pursed her lips making eye contact with him. She sighed heavily before continuing 'Just like I look the other way from all the terrible things you do…' They locked eyes, she could clearly see the irritation on his face but there was something else there that she couldn't quite place.
'Because they're for the greater good, just like this list.' She held up the hard drive before placing it noisily back in her lap. Her eyes were hard but still glistened.
'You want to kill someone the government's protecting. But you can't find them so you had us find this list for you' She accused, his eyes never left hers, glaring back at her. She felt emboldened, sitting here accusing him like this, at this moment she did care that he was glaring at her, his face dark and dangerous. Was she toying with him? Maybe but he deserved a taste of his own medicine for once. She wondered briefly how far she could push him but glanced away toward the windows.
'Years ago, a Wisconsin housewife named Maureen Rowan was outside in the wee hours with the family dog, Dodger.' He brought her attention back to him, glancing at her before looking away again. Her mouth was downturn, her eyes glistening.
'It was absolutely frigid, no one in their right might would've been out in that kind of bitter cold, and if not for Dodger's ageing bladder, I imagine Maureen would have been fast asleep. But as fate would have it, her neighbour Alexei Lagunov, the Avtoritet of a Russian Bratva felt, given the late hour and windchill, he and his boyeviks could move a body from his basement to the trunk of an associate's car without being observed. They didn't count on Dodger's call to nature.' He still had her attention but his eye wandered and he didn't look at her directly.
'So Maureen had a choice between remaining silent or doing the right thing…' He paused, making eye contact briefly. 'She chose to testify. And while she helped bring Alexei Lagunov to justice, she also forfeited the rest of her life in doing so.' He briefly paused, glancing up at her before looking away. 'She's on that list.' He nodded, looking at her.
'Who is she to you?' She asked, half expecting a non answer.
'Maureen Rowan is Kate's… Er Mr Kaplan's sister.' He was still looking at her, his eye brows raised, nodding. 'I didn't need to find her.' He said shaking his head, 'I just needed to…' He looked down voice wavering slightly, struggling with the emotion that was welling up inside him. His brow was creased, "…Make sure no one else can.' His face cleared and he looked back at her, a small smile was on her lips but her brow was creased in a frown.
'This doesn't excuse what you've done.' She told him matter of factly.
'No.' He shook his head frowning, his face creased. 'No it doesn't.' His eyes glistened and he refused to look at her. He raised his eye brows and his face cleared, he pursed his lips as she stood to leave without saying another word, she slung her bag over her shoulder.
'Elizabeth, wait…' He caught her wrist as she went passed him, stopping her. She stood still but didn't make any effort to sit back down. She pulled her wrist free and stepped back slightly.
'Why? Because now I'm angry with you because of something you've done and you don't like it?' She glared down at him, slightly over her shoulder. 'You know you did something wrong. You killed a friend, a good friend of yours, someone who was always loyal to you but here you sit like nothing happened.' Her voice cracked as she fought with her rising emotions. It wasn't fair that Mr Kaplan had died because of her.
'It's not like that.' He huffed 'Kate interfered in my affairs. She conspired against me, betrayed me, she let me believe you were dead. For months…' He tried to take her hand again but she side stepped evading his touch.
'And that was worth dying for?' She asked incredulously. 'I conspired too, do you want to take me out back and shoot me?' She shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat.
'Don't be ridiculous, please sit down' he asked gesturing to the bench opposite.
'No I won't sit down. How is it ridiculous when you murdered her for the very same thing that I did! And probably going by your logic, I deserve to die more because she'd been loyal to you for longer.' Her voice rose with increasing octave. They had all conspired together, it was on all of them. 'Where as I, I'm always testing you, always going against what you ask of me. So tell me how did she deserve to die more?' She glared at him whilst he looked straight ahead.
'You talk about trust and betrayal' She continued. 'You want me to trust you but you've proved time and again that I can't trust you. Sure I know that you won't harm me but how many other's I care about are fair game to you?' She demanded glaring down at him. His face fell, eyes dark, that twitch under his eye told her she was pushing him too far. He turned away from her, glaring toward the bar and didn't answer. He couldn't meet her eye in fear of what she would see there.
'What about Dembe?' She asked simply.
'Dembe's loyalty isn't in question…' He snapped, his eyes flashing up at her.
'Just like mr Kaplan's wasn't? But if he crossed you, would you kill him too? If he sided with me or helped me, he's one of your oldest friends like Mr Kaplan was. What about Cooper or Samar? Ressler?' Her voice cracked and she pushed down the rising lump in her throat. Her own eyes firm but glassy. She only didn't include Aram because she wasn't sure Aram would ever betray anyone.
'It not that simple, Elizabeth…' He said then working his jaw, his teeth clenched. She could see the muscles flexing in his face. She could also see she was getting to him, working a nerve until it began to fray.
'Isn't it?' She asked unamused by his non answer.
'You say you care about me, that I mean everything to you but if that were true you wouldn't keep me in the dark about literally everything. If that were true you wouldn't go around murdering our friends.' Her voice rose again breaking at the end.
'You know I care about you, you know that you're all that matters to me…' He glanced up at her then, her face dark and hard while his was filled with emotion, his eyes glisten and he swallowed thickly.
'But not more than some twisted retribution?' She stated. She knew he loved her or his version of love. Whatever she was to him, she knew that much and yet how could she begin to feel it when he went around killing those he claimed to love and trust.
'No, it's not like that. You are all that matters to me…' He almost choked, biting his tongue to staunch the rising tide of emotion that was beginning to take over.
'Yes and why is that? You won't tell me, will you? Against all logic I'm all that matters to you. But that's not a position I want to be in. Can't you see that?' She thought he would look away then, when he didn't she said,
'Love and trust are intrinsic, you know?' Her chin trembled for a moment, her voice cracking. Her eyes were glassy matching his own, his mouth downturn. He swallowed thickly. She hadn't witnessed this much emotion from him before and it was hard to know how much to push before he snapped. Perhaps thats what she wanted. She had wanted that back at the church but now? Did she want to unleash the beast within, just so she knew that he was actually remorseful or that he actually cared.
'You say that you haven't ever lied to me but being evasive, leading me one way while you go another does nothing to build trust. It leads me to believe that you can't be trusted.' She pushed further as he broke eye contact, his gazed fixed at the back of the room.
'Elizabeth…' He murmured thickly struggling to control his emotions, she was effectively pushing his buttons and he wasn't sure when she had learned to do it.
'If I really am all you care about, like you say and you want me to trust you, then you'll be honest with me and tell me why you murdered Mr Kaplan.' She paused for a second to allow him to respond and when he didn't she raised her eyebrows,
'Hmmm? Yeah. Okay. Good talk' she turned to leave again but he grabbed her arm, her hands still in her pockets. The movement jolted her, almost knocking her off balance.
'Wait…' He asked his voice gravelly. He looked up at her hard face and she looked away toward the door. 'It seems we both have regrets Elizabeth…'
'Yes, We do. But the difference is that I didn't murder anyone.' She pulled her arm free and headed for the door.
