Say You Won't Let Go Chapter 2
The next morning at the Post Office went as usual for all the agents, everyone coming in on time and sitting themselves down at their desks or doing other tasks, the sounds of fingers hastily pressing the keys on keyboards and idle conversation filling the silence of the massive space. Elizabeth Keen walked into her and Ressler's shared office, looking put together but exhausted. She slightly adjusted her tight bun as she went over to her desk, smiling when Ressler silently handed her a cup of coffee on her way. Taking a sip, her smile widened when she realized it had two creams and one sugar, just the way she liked it. Of course Ressler knew how she took her coffee. She saw that he already had a steaming mug himself, the liquid dark and unyielding; black, of course, just the way he liked it. Liz chuckled a bit to herself as she put her bag down at her desk, pulling out her chair. Ressler really was a grumpy stickler.
"Morning, Ressler," she greeted finally as she took another sip of coffee, remnants of the drink sticking to her lips when she pulled the cup away.
"Morning, Keen," he greeted back, eyes never raising to meet her own from the massive stack of paperwork that always, always seemed to plague their desks.
"More paperwork?" she asked, voice filled with dread. Ressler replied unceremoniously,
"Yup." Liz groaned as she glanced at her own paperwork. She hadn't even finished what she'd taken home last night.
"Can't Reddington just give us another case? Or something? I would rather do anything other than paperwork right now." Ressler chuckled as he finally raised his clear blue eyes to look at her.
"Come on, Keen, it's not that bad. I'm sure Reddington will give us a case soon. Stop moping and get to work, you have coffee." Liz pouted.
"Coffee isn't enough, Ressler."
"Well, it's going to have to be." Liz groaned again as she heaved herself into a sitting position, reluctantly grabbing a pen from the little pen holder she had on her desk and sliding the first sheet off her pile of paperwork.
"Sometimes I really hate you, you know that?" She said, touching the tip of the pen to the paper and allowing ink to flow across the page. Ressler just chuckled in response. Despite her sour mood over having to do paperwork, Liz couldn't deny that hearing Ressler laugh made her feel more at ease than anything else in the world. After all, it was very rare that he laughed, or even smiled at all.
...
A couple of hours later, Liz and Ressler were still doing paperwork, the sounds of their pens scratching against the paper the only sound that could be heard in the small office. They continued for a couple more minutes before Liz finally let out a long sigh, dropping her pen and putting her head in her arms.
"This is too much. I can't focus anymore," she groaned, catching Ressler's attention. He snorted, shaking his head as he stared at Liz.
"Come on, Keen. You're almost done," he said, gesturing to the now small pile of only 5 or 6 papers left on Liz's desk. Liz slowly raised her head, glaring at him.
"I don't care if there was one left, Ressler, I don't want to do paperwork anymore. It's all I've been doing for the past few days, and I'm sick of it. I want to be out in the field, solving cases. That's what really matters." Ressler looked down, biting and licking his lips like he normally did when he was nervous or unsure of what to say.
"I get it, Keen, but this job isn't always about saving people. It's also about following the law, which we have to do as government agents." Liz sighed, the air that was being blown out of her mouth shifting her bangs. For a split second, Ressler couldn't help but notice how beautiful it made her look.
Stop being stupid, he chastised himself. Liz is in love with Tom, not you.
Staring at her, Ressler couldn't help but smile. Liz could be a handful sometimes, but he truly was grateful to have her as his partner. After contemplating for a few moments on how to fix Liz's current paperwork ailment, Ressler finally came to a decision.
"Hey, Keen, come on. Let's go for a walk." Liz looked at him again, unamused.
"Walk where?" Ressler smirked.
"To go get coffee." Liz snorted.
"Really? Coffee?" Ressler smirked again, his smirk growing even wider.
"Well, Keen, for one, going for a walk is good for your health, two clearly you need it since your mood just keeps getting worse and three you've also drank all your coffee so I don't see how it couldn't be a beneficial trip."
Liz still looked unamused, but after seeing the smug look on Ressler's face, she finally gave in, getting up and allowing a small smile to cross her face as she passed him on her way to the door.
"Smartass," she said airily as she opened it, walking through, with Ressler close on her heels.
"What did you say, Keen?" Ressler asked, pretending to act bothered as he followed her.
"Oh nothing, nothing," Liz said, smirking. Ressler chuckled.
"Being cheeky doesn't get you anywhere, Keen." Liz turned around, punching him playfully in the arm.
"Who said I was being cheeky?"
The two continued to banter as they made their way to the coffee maker and filled up their mugs with coffee, exchanging insults and, in Liz's case, the occasional punch on the arm or playful shove. To anyone else, they might have seemed like a flirting couple. After they'd finally gotten refills on their coffee and were making their way back to their office, their argument calmed down a little bit. Following Ressler up the stairs, Liz took a sip of her coffee, feeling a bit more awake and a lot more cheery after having a lighthearted argument with Ressler. When they had neared the top, Ressler taking the final step up onto the landing where their office was, Liz went to follow suit, but not before her foot caught on the final step, causing her to lose her balance.
"Ah!" She cried out as she fell into Ressler, knocking him off balance too. His arms immediately came up around her, trying to steady her fall, but she'd already knocked him too far off balance. With his arms still holding tightly to her waist, the two crashed to the floor, Ressler grunting as he took the brunt of the fall. Their coffee mugs slipped out of their hands as they were falling, spilling coffee all over their impeccable suits and the floor, their mugs thudding harmlessly to the carpeted floor. The two lay in shock for a moment, unsure of what to do, before Liz finally groaned, pushing herself up and off Ressler's chest. Ressler tried to sit up too, his arms sliding away from Liz's waist as he slowly sat up. Liz tried not to think about the fact that Ressler holding her hadn't felt wrong or weird to her, as Ressler tried not to think about how he'd liked holding her; had wanted to keep holding her, in fact. God, what was wrong with him? Before he could question himself further, however, Liz was in his face, yelling if he was okay. Groaning, Ressler shifted away from Liz.
"Jeez, Keen, i just fell. Give me a break." Liz quickly scanned for injuries, her gut twisting with guilt. If he was injured, she'd never forgive herself.
"Yes, I know you fell! Are you okay? That was a hard fall, not to mention you had me on top of you." Ressler grunted as he tried to smooth out his suit, the grey material now stained a dark brown from the coffee.
"I'm fine, Keen, really. All I'm worried about is if this coffee's gonna come out of my suit." Liz snorted.
"Wow. That's your biggest worry right now, huh?" Ressler gave an annoyed sigh.
"Yes, Keen, it is. This is my favourite suit." Liz burst out laughing at that, not able to contain it anymore.
"Oh, you'll live. I'm sure that'll come out with a few dry-cleans." Ressler chuckled along with her for a moment before finally stopping to look at her, scanning her for wounds.
"Are you alright? Did you twist your ankle or anything when you tripped on that stair?" Liz shook her head, smiling.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks for, you know, catching me." Ressler chuckled.
"Anytime, Keen." They shared a sweet smile before snapping back to reality, Liz reaching to grab the mugs.
"We should probably go get cleaned up and clean this up," Liz laughed, beckoning for Ressler to follow. He reluctantly got up and followed her down the stairs, teasing her the whole way as Liz clipped back with her own teasing. It all felt so natural for the both of them, being together; they might not have recognized it then, or before, but they would soon; they were simply made for each other.