Chapter Nineteen
They weren't the first to arrive at the Post Office. Park stood with Aram at his desk, the two deep in discussion. Neither looked up as the faded yellow doors of the lift creaked open loudly and Liz led the way into the underground blacksite. "Have you heard anything?" she asked, finally drawing their attention.
Both Aram and Park blinked, dragged out of their deep conversation. Park recovered first. "Yeah, they released him already. He's upstairs with Cooper."
"Did he get a look at the intruder?"
The other woman quirked a dark eyebrow. "A good one. He's dead. Ressler shot him."
Park had been so vague on the phone when she'd called earlier that Liz hadn't known what to assume, but now - thankfully - it seemed like the worst wasn't it. "Any idea which case it's linked to?"
"Aren't they usually linked with Reddington?" Tom asked quietly from behind.
Aram's huffed a short, excited laugh. "Do you remember then? I know that you've had sessions with Dr Orchard, but I didn't think you would -"
Tom's expression immediately shifted to confusion. "I don't know what you mean."
"That you knew that Red always has an agenda," Liz explained softly. It was yet another small but good sign that there was more progress being made than either of them had realized.
"So when did Tom officially join the team?" Ressler asked from the top of the stairs as he and Cooper exited Cooper's office. Liz looked up, the smirk drawn out by the snarky comment instantly fading at the sign of her partner's arm in a sling and, as he drew closer, the bruises already starting to form. He'd won the fight, but he'd taken some hard hits to do it.
"You okay?"
"Oh yeah. Fantastic," he groused and gave Tom a nod. "You look better than the last time I saw you."
Tom grimaced a little and ducked his head. "Yeah, sorry about ghosting on you like that, man."
"Any idea who attacked you?"
"Someone linked to Emilia Schmitz," Ressler said with conviction. "Has to be. The guy was looking for a jump drive that my buddy Weiss gave me in Germany."
"Did he get it?"
"Where's the faith, Keen?" Ressler's lips tilted at one side and he motioned with his non-injured hand towards Aram's computer.
"Agent Ressler dropped it off before going home and I've been working on the decryption. Considerably less complex than The Collector's file."
"Well, Weis did want us to see it," Ressler murmured.
"What have you found?" Cooper prompted and Aram stuttered to a start of his exploration.
Emilia Schmitz. Ressler's buddy had uncovered just over half a dozen aliases the woman went by and connections not only to governments, but criminal organisations as well. The most interesting one? The Nash Syndicate. Liz thought the floor might have shifted dangerously under her and she saw Cooper stiffen a little to her right.
To her left, Tom tilted his head. "What am I missing here? The woman has ties to arms dealers and traffickers, but a drug ring is where you draw the line?"
"Not the drugs, the group itself," Liz answered quietly. "They had a contact in the Marshals that let them really get a foothold here. Ian Garvey. He was the one that…." She swallowed hard, and while Tom stood next to her waiting for an explanation, all she could see was him bleeding out on their living room floor. She cleared her throat, trying to focus back to the present. "He was the one that nearly killed you."
Tom's expression darkened at the words. "So this… Cabal that Reddington thinks she's connected to had something to do with me losing my memories?"
"Maybe. Possibly. It's another piece of the puzzle, at least," she said quietly, even if she knew that wasn't the answer he was looking for.
"You said your mother was involved with hiring Tom. She used to work for the Cabal," Ressler pointed out. "You think Reddington knows she's alive?"
"Only one way to find out," Liz answered and pulled her cell out, hitting the speed dial. "Dembe, it's me. Tell him to meet me at the Post Office. I have an update on the case."
She could still recall the day that the news had come in. It would have felt more appropriate if it had been dark and rainy, but the sky had been clear and the Bureau's case against her had been falling apart. Scottie had thought things were looking up. They had certainly appeared that way right up until Agent Lamb arrived with the news. He had been the lead agent on her case, and while he had never had a good word to say about her, he respected her son. He'd taken no joy in delivering the news of his death, even when Scottie broke down. It hadn't been immediate. She had sat there, a metal table between them, and stared wide-eyed as he asked her if she had heard him. Her vision had blurred and the walls she had secured herself behind cracked and crumbled all within a matter of seconds, the weight too much to bear.
She'd lost him. Again.
And again it had been her fault and she knew it.
Over two years later she hadn't expected a miracle, but she certainly wasn't going to take it for granted. Elizabeth was being cautious, which was - as much as she was loath to admit it - understandable, though Scottie did hope that she wasn't the only one her daughter-in-law was being cautious with. Her team knew that Tom was alive, meaning that Reddington likely knew, but who else? If it got out, if certain people discovered that he was alive, he and Elizabeth would be in danger all over again. Not to mention their precious little girl. She needed intel, and while she didn't have any specific ill-will towards Agent Ressler, the attack had certainly come at an opportune time to get that.
"Grandma Scottie?"
"Yes, sweetie?" Scottie answered automatically, pulled from her thoughts.
"Why aren't you colouring?"
Scottie glanced down at the colouring book her granddaughter had chosen for her and the collection of crayons laid out across it. Tinkerbell remained untouched and she knew she was likely waiting in vain. The Keens might have some piece of intel hidden away, but it was going to tell her what she already knew: Katarina was back and she was setting up her board for another round of the most dangerous game of their lives. "I need to make a call. Why don't you keep working?"
"'Kay," the four-year-old answered and went back to her own picture of Tiana as her grandmother stepped into Agnes' bedroom and shut the door, pulling her phone out of her skirt pocket ro dial an old but familiar number.
It rang and rang, and for the first time Scottie entertained the idea that the line might have finally been cut rather than rerouted until -
"Betty's Flower Shop," came an old, cigarette strained voice.
"I need to speak with Betty," Scottie answered.
"She's unavailable. Can I take your order?"
"Of course. I need half a dozen daffodils mixed with two dozen sunflowers with greenery delivered to the shop on 10th. Dorothy Collins will be there to receive them."
"Understood. Is tomorrow acceptable?"
"It is," Scottie answered and ended the call. The meet was set. She had the rest of the evening to spend with her granddaughter. Time to put Katarina as far out of her mind as she could.
Something about Elizabeth calling to extend an offer to bring him in on the latest update on their case rang false. Or, if not necessarily false, at least not wholly true. Ressler and Park would have arrived back into DC that evening, it was true, but Elizabeth had been suspicious and secretive before Red had handed her The Collector case. Since Petrov's demise, she had taken that distrust to new heights.
If Katarina was to be believed - and he knew trusting her fully was a fool's errand - Elizabeth and Tom knew about the woman who had called herself Tolliver's death. They had been there and witnessed it first hand, yet Elizabeth hadn't said a word about it. If she'd managed to keep both that and Tom's reappearance from him, there was no telling what other secrets she could be attempting to harbor, and that within itself was dangerous. Katarina was a wildcard by herself, but if Elizabeth was playing her own game as well it would diminish their odds in succeeding in what some might already consider a losing game.
"You should tell her."
Dembe's voice pulled Reddington out of his thoughts and he blinked owlishly from his place in the back of the town car. "Tell her what?"
"About Tom."
Reddington shot his old friend a withering look. "We're balanced on a thin enough blade without introducing that dangerous piece of knowledge."
"Katarina knows—"
"Yes, she's made it quite clear that she does."
"- and she will use it against you if you find yourselves at a crossroads."
Reddington loosed a long breath. "Telling Elizabeth will only alienate her. I can handle Katarina."
He didn't miss the look he received through the rear view mirror in return. "The secrets are what alienate Elizabeth. If you trust her, she will choose trust in return. Tell her about her husband. About her mother. Tell her everything and she will know she can trust you."
"I wish I had your faith, my friend," Red murmured as they pulled up to the Post Office.
Dembe didn't push any further as they exited the car and made their way through security and down into the bowels of the blacksite. Reddington felt the knot that had been steadily growing in his chest since the call tighten as he saw Tom was amongst those gathered around and discussing. The younger man's dark blue gaze latched onto him as he entered, a flicker of surprise flashing across his features, and he tapped Elizabeth on the arm to motion back at Red.
Elizabeth split from her team and her husband, making a beeline for Reddington. She grabbed a handful of his coat sleeve and started dragging him off to the side. "We need to talk."
"Elizabeth -" Dembe started.
"I'll bring him back in one piece," she tossed over her shoulder and didn't stop until they were tucked away in a secluded part of the Post Office. "Thank you for coming."
"Tom," Reddington said simply, the name rolling off of his tongue almost as a question. Before anything else happened, he needed to know where they stood there.
"What about him?"
"How is he? Have you learned anymore?"
"Maybe." She drew in a trembling breath. "This… everything…. You've referred to this as a war, and with the information that we've received, with everything we're looking at, I believe it's coming to head. This game - the back and forth that we do with withholding information - it has to stop, but it can only stop if I can trust you. I need you to put the cards on the table. Anything you're holding back, I need to know."
There was an edge of desperation in her voice and he wondered just what she had found. He needed to handle the situation with care. One wrong word, one wrong step, and the entire house of cards would come crashing down. He needed to regain control. "You've discovered something."
"More than one thing," she answered tightly.
Well, he knew one of those at the very least. "Maddie Tolliver."
"Why didn't you just tell me she wasn't my mother?"
"I warned you not to trust her, that just because you wanted her to be didn't make it true."
"But you never said she wasn't."
"Would you have believed me if I did?" He waited and watched as she pursed her lips together, those eyes that reminded him so much of Katarina's threatening to cut through to his soul if he let them. She knew the answer. It was the same one he'd come to. "No. Of course you wouldn't have, because you were convinced she was. I have never lied to you, Elizabeth."
"She's dead."
"I know. That's not all you've found, is it?"
"Emilia Schmitz has a connection to the Nash Syndicate."
Reddington's eyes widened a little at that. "Interesting."
He watched her stiffen just a little, her shoulders back and her chin tilted up defiantly. "Did you know that the woman you sent us after is connected to the people that tried to kill Tom?"
"I did not," he answered firmly and watched her take it in, weighing the words as if she could decipher the truth in them. "Nor is the connection direct."
Her jaw clenched as she fought off what must have been a surge of emotions. "Ian Garvey, the Nash Syndicate…. It's all connected, direct or not. Somehow they're linked to the Cabal. Did they have something to do with why Tom lost his memories?"
This was dangerous, dangerous territory here. Territory he would have much preferred to avoid altogether, but there they were. Reddington steadied himself. "Elizabeth, when I arrived at your apartment - after Garvey had long since left and Tom had killed the men he'd left behind - you were both in…. terrible shape." He winced trying to push the mental image of Elizabeth lying on the floor with blood matted to her hair out of his mind. "That kind of trauma -"
"Don't bullshit me, Reddington," she growled, a dangerous look flashing through her eyes. "And don't protect her."
That wasn't what he'd expected. "Protect who?"
"My mother. I know she's alive. I know that she hired Tom to reinsert him into my life. She's been toying with us and she has connections to the Cabal. If she hurt him to manipulate me in any way -"
"Elizabeth." He waited until she swallowed hard, meeting his gaze. She knew. He wasn't sure how she and Tom had made the connection, but denying it now was futile. All he could hope for was a chance to explain. "If I'd told you outright that Tolliver wasn't your mother, you wouldn't have believed me, but what's more, the safeguard that your grandfather and a dear friend of mine put into place to protect Katarina would have been made obsolete. The woman you knew as Tolliver was a layer of protection."
"I want to see her."
"No. Absolutely not. She -"
"You seem to think I was asking," Elizabeth snapped. "I'm not. You're going to take me to her and I'm going to get answers. My entire world has been turned upside down because of all of this. She owes me. You owe me."
The words cut, viscous and dangerous and he saw Katarina in her. Red could feel the weight of it all and the beginning of the distortion that signalled an episode. He needed to take a breath. "And if I refuse?" he asked after a long moment. He was alright. If he could keep the situation from escalating too badly again, he'd be alright.
"I don't think you will."
"And why is that?"
"Because you need me, and if you don't do this now, I'm gone and you can fight your own damn war."
It was late by the time Tom returned to the apartment. He had wanted to go with Liz. She needed backup and if she didn't trust Reddington to tell her the truth, how could she trust him with that? She'd offered him a sad sort of smile and tipped up on her toes, guiding him down to meet her as she had rested her forehead against his, and asked him to trust her. This was something she needed to do on her own. As soon as she had answers, she'd be home.
Home.
He wasn't sure when he'd started to think of the little apartment in connection to that word, but it felt right, even if the snippets of memories that he had for it were something out of a nightmare. There was something calming about the place, like he belonged there. Even without Liz at his side for the moment.
Scottie Hargrave was still there. Of course she was. She'd been watching Agnes. The fact that he'd be responsible for the little girl hadn't really keyed in with him until he saw her snoozing on the couch, wrapped around a big, stuffed dog plushie.
"She was determined to wait up until you both got home," Scottie told him in a hushed voice, her thin lips tilting into a fond smile. "She missed you."
"She knows me somehow," Tom murmured, his gaze fixed on the sleeping girl.
"Of course she does. There's a bond between a parent and a child. You know her too, even if you don't know that you do."
That drew his attention around and he found Scottie staring at him, her dark eyes warmer than they'd been earlier that day, even if a little sad. "I'm sorry I don't remember you. Liz says that… we'd gotten close."
"We did, and we will again."
"I'm working on it, but it's not…. It's frustrating. The first session was great, but the second one…. I don't know if I have the patience for this," he confessed softly, the words leaving his lips before he gave them permission to. "I was okay before. I didn't care that the boss that raised me wanted me for a payday or the woman I was sleeping with didn't know who the hell she was any more than I did. I didn't have a family, didn't need them. Didn't want them. It would have been…. a liability. I think it was. I gave up everything for Liz, and then I turned around and did it again."
"You love her."
He nodded, feeling shaky and exhausted. "I do. I just want to remember her like she remembers me before..." He squeezed his eyes closed, swallowing the words down hard.
"Before what?" Scottie prompted softly, her hand gentle on his arm.
"Before she figures out I'm not the guy she wants me to be. I'm not a good person and I have no idea how to be for her and for… and for Agnes." He looked over to the little girl and felt his chest tighten. "I need to be."
"Tom." He turned and looked at her, finding tears standing her eyes and she reached up to press her palm against his cheek. "Halcyon - the company that I run - has tremendous resources. I'd like to offer them to you and to the doctor you're working with."
"Why?"
A couple of the tears escaped, but her smile grew. "Because I'm selfish, and I'm not willing to let you go a third time. Will you let me help you?"
She held his gaze and Tom knew he should be looking for an angle. There had to be an angle, but if she really could help him recover his memories faster, it might just be worth it. "Yeah," he breathed.
Without warning Scottie had her arms around his neck. Tom stiffened at the embrace even as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck and held on tightly. They stood like that for a long moment and Tom pushed hard at the raging emotions that toppled over one another like waves threatening to drown him. Almost memories. That's all he had, but they wouldn't do him any good right now. He swallowed them down and tentatively wrapped his arms around her in return.
TBC
Notes: I had a blast researching and coming up with Scottie's secret code to Katarina in this chapter. For anyone interested, here's the deciphered code:
half a dozen & two dozen = 6 &24
daffodils = rebirth
sunflowers= loyalty
greenery = a park
10th = the street
Dorothy Collins =DC
So she's setting the meet at 6:24 at the park on 10th Street in Washington DC, calling in a favour in regards to Tom's return.
I won't admit how long it took me to put it together but I'm still pretty darn pleased with it.
Next Time: Liz meets her mother, Scottie goes to the meet, and Cooper makes a potentially dangerous request for intel.
