Lizzie couldn't sleep. This was becoming a more regular occurrence since her father came to town to hunt down bad guys with her and started insinuating that her husband may be one of them.

To be fair, she did find a box full of passports, money, and a 9 mm. That generally isn't a keepsake kept by an innocent man. Which is why this morning, Lizzie had rolled up the rug, removed the box from its hiding place and took the gun out. Grabbing a few old phone books and a bucket, Lizzie walked out to their little backyard and placed the books at the bottom of the bucket before filling it with water. She then placed the gun right up against the phone book, grabbed a open bag of fertilizer and placed it over the muzzle then waited. It was trash day. She waited until the garbage men were right next door and as their noise reached its crescendo, she pulled the trigger.

/\/\/\/\

Later that morning, Red sat in the park, playing chess alone, or seemingly alone. His eyes glanced to Dembe who sat at a bench not too far from him then at Luli who stood in the shade of a tree as he innocuously took off his fedora and placed it on the table next to his chess board.

Within moments, a man in a suit almost as nice as Red's own walked over. "From Wujing."

"Good God. Not here." Red made a shooing motion and the gentleman awkwardly placed the envelope he held back into his jacket pocket. "The gentleman I usually contract with is unavailable – stung by a manta ray off the barrier reef in Belize. I have another tech in mind."

"This needs to be done quickly. Today?"

Red nodded as he gazed at his board, pondering his next move. "Speak with Luli about the replacement I'm offering. Conduct your due diligence. If things are in order, we can proceed as discussed." He nodded again with finality. When the man didn't leave, he looked at him over the rim of his sunglasses. "I prefer to play with myself in private."

/\/\/\/\

Tom and Lizzie sat at the breakfast table. Lizzie had tuned Tom out a few minutes into his talk as she warmed her hands around her mug of coffee.

"Are you okay?" Apparently Tom had finally caught on that she wasn't listening.

"Yeah … sorry. I'm just a little distracted." Lizzie gave a small smile.

"No, that's – that's all right. I'm sitting here talking about what happened to me like it only happened to me." Tom took her hand where she rested it on the table. She immediately had to tamp down the urge to remove it. "But it happened to us both. It's just a little weird to be home because … Lizzie, a man came into our home."

"I know. I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more. I want to tell you more." Her regret was sincere, at least. She hated that her home had been violated.

"So, tell me something. Who was he?"

"He's gone. He was killed."

"So … it's over?"

Was he disappointed? He seemed a little disappointed. "Yes."

"Look, I love you."

Just before she could respond, the doorbell rang. Saved by the bell. "That's Ellie." She said, beginning to stand.

Tom grabbed her hand again. "I just hate that there are things you have to hide from me."

"Good morning! Hope you're hungry. I'm making breakfast." Ellie said playfully, having let herself in and placed groceries on the counter.

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Lizzie smiled brightly up at Ellie, grateful for the distraction.

"Are you kidding? A good omelet has healing powers. Bruce and Melissa are bringing over dinner tonight." Ellie was apparently very good at weaseling her way into playing host in someone else's home when she felt it necessary.

"That's incredibly cool of you." Lizzie said, coming around the kitchen counter to peak into the grocery bag.

"Hey, friends don't let friends starve when they've been stabbed by violent psychopaths. How's he doing?"

"I'm sitting right here." Tom waved his hand as if to bring attention to himself.

"I'm not asking you. You'll say fine, because that's what you do. You're a good actor. Karen's covering my classes. We're gonna eat and then head over to physical therapy."

Lizzie was frozen for a moment as a terrible thought crossed her mind. He's a good actor. "I got to run. Ellie, we owe you." She hoped that she had recovered quickly.

"So true." Ellie pointed some celery in Lizzie's direction.

"You know I wouldn't go if I didn't have to." Lizzie winced sympathetically at Tom. He wasn't the only one who was a good actor.

"Look, whatever they pulled you into, the sooner you get it over with, the sooner we get our life back."

"Okay." Lizzie kissed him on the cheek and backed away, heading towards the hallway.

"Bye!" Tom called after her.

After grabbing her purse, Lizzie walked out to her car, unaware of the man standing on the sidewalk eating an apple.

/\/\/\/\

Lizzie walked up to the counter in the ballistics department and handed over the Ziploc bag containing the results of her early morning experiment.

"Slug and casing from a 9-millimeter. Can you run these and see if they match any crimes in our system?"

The Tech took the bag, nodding his head yes.

/\/\/\/\

Lizzie rolled her eyes as she walked into her father's choice of meeting place. He always did love a good hat.

As the door chimed behind her, Lizzie looked up to see Red trying hats, the owner of the establishment standing patiently beside him.

"An opportunity has come our way. Yesterday, the Chinese killed a C.I.A. agent in Shanghai. They took his computer, which they thought could decode a message they intercepted. It couldn't. They've asked me to help." Lizzie motioned to the dark-skinned man behind the counter, a question written across her face. "Oh, Rodrick is a dear old friend."

Lizzie nodded absentmindedly before his speech finally seemed to catch up to her. "I'm sorry. You're decoding C.I.A. messages on behalf of the Chinese?"

"Now, you see, you make it sound like treason. So black and white. It's not. It's green." Red waved around the hat in his hand as he spoke. "The fact is, American secrets are for sale by an assortment of reputable vendors, myself included. If I don't do this, someone else will. The man who's paying me is called Wujing. Perhaps you've heard of him. Formerly, he worked for the Ministry of State Security. He's not officially sanctioned by the Chinese. But unofficially, he's contracted to take out rival agents – American, British. The message likely contains the name of another agent."

"Do you expect me to believe that – a secret meeting with the mysterious Wujing?" Lizzie placed her hands in her jacket pockets, rocking onto the balls of her feet.

"Intriguing, isn't it?"

"He's a myth."

"That's what they said about Deep Throat … and the G-Spot." Lizzie looked at her father, appalled.

"You can never say anything like that in my presence again. Ever."

Red gave her a wan smile and continued. "I assure you Wujing is quite real, and he's hired me. Now you have the chance to catch him. I've already forwarded them your cover."

"What? What cover?"

"Carolyn Givins, PhD in Applied Physics from M.I.T. I've told them you're my new encryption specialist."

"You're asking me to betray the life of an American agent." Lizzie's lips pursed, feeling as if she was being manipulated into something.

"Listen, this is a guy who the intelligence community has been talking about for decades as if he were a figment. You don't even know if he's real or not. Well, he is real – very. And I'm giving you the opportunity to grab him. Now, the good news is he's not even in China. He's right here in your own backyard. If we play our cards right, I can still make Lisbon by breakfast." Red then looked over at the owner of the store to gain his attention. "Rodrick, both." He said, pointing to both of the fedoras that sat on the counter.

/\/\/\/\

"Okay. Say I do this. What's in it for me?" Lizzie asked as they settled into the back seat of her father's car.

"Look at you, camel trading like a Bedouin." It was starting to get ridiculous, the things that made Red proud of her.

"If I'm gonna help you, I want something in return."

"Such as?" He couldn't help but look at her as his interest piqued.

"The truth. I want to know …why now."

He seemed to contemplate this for a moment before nodding. "Well, then, we need to move quickly. Things are already in play."

/\/\/\/\/\

"Three minutes till the meeting, sir." Aram announced, directing the statement towards Ressler from where he sat in front of the computer screens, situated inside of a closed down café.

Ressler looked at his watch. "Where the hell is Reddington? He's late. He's gonna blow this whole damn thing."

"Do you smoke?" Meera asked Lizzie, standing next to where Lizzie sat in one of the uncomfortable café chairs.

"No." Lizzie answered in mild confusion.

"Well, you do now. Or at least you're trying to quit. This is C.I.A. equipment." She held up a clear patch. "It's brand-new. It looks like a nicotine patch, but it's a very sensitive transmitter. It has a range of 300 yards, and it's a plastic polymer, which means it won't show up if it gets wanded."

"And if you're wrong?"

"I'm not wrong." Meera stated as she held the neck of Lizzie's shirt out of the way so that she could place the patch on Lizzie's collar bone.

Ressler paced the small area. "Where the hell is he? He was supposed to be here an hour –"

"What are we waiting for?" Red seemed to simply materialize in the doorway that lead to the kitchens.

/\/\/\/\

"Right this way." The man from the park, Wujing's assistant, announced, sweeping his arm out to the side as he stood beside the doorway, as if to say 'after you.' Lizzie looked around them. According to Red, this place used to be a radio station before Wujing – or rather – the Chinese government bought it out three years ago.

They were led into a back room that seemed to double as a security room.

"Sorry, sir. Protocol." The gentleman stated, waving the wand to signify what he was apologizing for. "

Miss, please." He twiddled his fingers in a clear 'please come here' motion and began to run the wand over her.

"Thank you. Sir?" He then begins to do the same to Red and then pauses as the device beeped as it reached Red's neck. The gentleman looked to him, patiently waiting for an explanation.

"DARPA tracking chip – eight millimeter tag. I was taken by Somali pirates last March, spent three weeks in a shipping container. The first two were a nightmare!" Red cocked his head and rolled his tongue. "The third one was actually quite pleasant. Even so, that won't happen again. If you have a clean razor blade and some morphine, I'll remove it."

The man coughed nervously. "That won't be necessary, but I am going to need a biometric print scan from your associate."

Red's lips pursed and Lizzie barely controlled the urge to look his way in panic. "She's with me." Red stated darkly, seemingly offended that this man wouldn't trust anyone that he vouched for.

"Understood. But my orders are to scan any new visitors."

"What database is this being run against?" Lizzie asked as she proffered her hand for the scan.

"All of them." The gentleman stated as he pressed her thumb onto the scanner.

Lizzie could feel the tension in the room, felt as if it was positively coated with it as they waited for the results.

"So, you went with the gray?" Apparently even Raymond Reddington was susceptible to a bit of nervous tension.

The scanner beeped and the gentleman nodded his head. "Follow me." He stated before directing them to an elevator. "As you can see, we've made some improvements. Oh, your DARPA chip won't work where you're going. Wujing will explain when you get there."

"Get where?" Red asked in confusion. There was no response as the door closed behind them.

/\/\/\/\

"How far down do you think we're going?" Lizzie asked, her nerves getting the better of her.

"Far enough." Red stated gravely just as the elevator stopped.

/\/\/\/\

"My friend." The man who Lizzie assumed was Wujing greeted Red placidly as he walked out of the caged monitoring room.

"Don't be cheeky, Wujing. You don't have any friends." Wujing gave a small upturn of the lips at this as Red pointed to Lizzie. "My associate." He stated in introduction.

"Ms. Givins. Professor Robins only works with the best." Wujing stated, offering his hand for a shake.

"Oh, he was an amazing teacher. I was so sorry to hear that he passed away." Please, you really think that's gonna trip me up?

"You've made some changes." Red stated, looking around the underground bunker.

"We had to increase security."

"I can imagine – four American agents killed in the past year and a half. You've been busy. I presume nothing gets in or out, no radio or satellite transmissions. Nothing but trust."

"Please don't take offense. I can't risk American surveillance. Only our systems are hard-wired to the outside world."

"Let's get to work. I once had a bad experience in a deep hole in the ground." Red said, wandering around the room as if he owned the place.

A man that had "techie" written all over him shyly walked up next to Wujing. When he noticed him, Wujing threw his arms around his shoulders. "Jin Sun! My new senior cryptographer." He introduced the man to Lizzie.

"We expected standard RSA encryption, but this was something stronger." Jin Sun said, trying to strike up a conversation with Lizzie – coder to coder.

"The government's been experimenting with better factoring algorithms. It's only a matter of time before RSA's obsolete." Ha. Apparently there was something to that one-hour crash course in coding and network security that Meera insisted on actually paid off.

"You're right. It is." His eyes widened as if he were impressed.

Oh yay, I passed another test. Lizzie thought grimly. "I'll just need a few moments to set up my equipment."

"This way." Jin Sun directed her over to a cleared tabletop.

Red walked up next to her as she pretended to get her computer set up. "We ready yet? Do you get home much, Jin Sun?"

"Not for two years." The man responded from his own workstation, looking confused as to why Raymond Reddington was speaking to him.

"Oh, that must be hard. It certainly would be for me. I don't even have a phone. I insist on delivering all of my messages in person. What province are you from?" Red asked conversationally as he placed a hand on Lizzie's shoulder.

Lizzie began to type on her computer so that Red could see.

NEED SATELLITE SIGNAL! NO TIME TO DELIVER IN PERSON. AGENT WILL BE KILLED.

"From Yunnan." Jin Sun responded.

"Oh! Beautiful part of the country! I spent a month in silent meditation at a monastery just outside of Kunming."

MUST ACCESS JIN'S COMPUTER. SUGGESTIONS?

"It was a wonderful escape from the distractions of everyday life. I can't imagine the distractions one might encounter down here." Red looked to Lizzie. "Can you?"

"No. I can't." She said quietly.

YES, DISTRACT THEM

"Excellent! I think we're almost ready. This should be fun."

Red clapped his hands, walking towards Wujing and seemed to do a double take as he glanced at the security monitors. "What the hell is that?! I swear, if I run into the same trouble I had with you in Hong Kong – In all the years you and I have known each other, I've never put you in a position like this! You know how I conduct my business. I don't need this kind of crap! You assured me this place was secure!"

"It is." Wujing's nostrils flared in impatience.

Red pointed to the monitors. "Then what the hell is that?! That van. It was there when we arrived, and it's still there. That is the FBI."

While Red has everyone distracted, Lizzie inserted the USB key which would allow Aram remote access to Jin Sun's computer."

"With all the scans and wands and this elevator you've built that goes down to Middle Earth, and you don't even bother to sweep the street around your building?! This is nonsense!"

"Calm down, old friend." Wujing tried to placate.

"You're under surveillance!"

"If the FBI was outside, it's because you led them here." Wujing seemed to have lost his patience.

So had Red. "I've been moving comfortably through the world for the past 20 years without a trace, and now some two-bit spy killer is gonna put my life and business in jeopardy?" Red's teeth were gritted at Wujing's apparent audacity.

Wujing's lips thinned before he spoke to one of the guards standing idly and directed him to do something. As the man left, they soon saw him exiting the building and the surveillance team that was doubling as construction workers quickly packed up as he walked towards them.

"Unbelievable." Red shook his head in disappointment.

"You see? Nothing. Now can we continue?" Wujing pointed to the monitor where the van had driven away.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. To put Ms. Givins and I at risk, it's unprofessional. I've reached my limit."

"Enough!" Wujing shouted, at the end of his patience.

"What? Okay. Okay. You know, I'm sorry. I've had a rough day." Red put his hands up in surrender. "Unbelievable. Should we do this?"

"The message." Wujing directed, looking in Lizzie's direction.

"Don't you miss the good old days with the pay phones and the brush passes?" Red asked as he and Wujing watched Lizzie press a few keys on the "magic box" that was on loan from the CIA.

They soon watched as the file was decrypted right before their eyes.

"There's your next target – kill number five. Henry Cho. This was sent from a C.I. , delivered to a server at the Nanjing Grand Hotel."

"So, , why is the C.I.A. sending you secret messages at your hotel?" Wujing asked the computer monitor.

"Henry Cho works for Zhongku Construction – not in China, here in D.C. His immigration file says he's been to the company headquarters six times in the last ten months." Jin Sun had obviously been doing a bit of digging at his desk.

Wujing took out his cell phone and dialed a number. After a few moments, someone seemed to answer as Wujing began to speak. "Henry Cho, please. It's very important that I speak to him immediately. His brother, Xiaoping, has been in a car accident."

Wujing seemed to have gotten all the information he needed as he quickly hung up the phone and walked over to them. "My friend, I can't thank you enough." He then hands Red a red envelope with Chinese script on the front.

"This is all the thanks I require." Red waved the envelope before putting it in his jacket pocket.

Lizzie couldn't help but glance at the USB still connected to Jin Sun's computer. "Get your things. It's time to go." Red stated before catching where Lizzie's eyes were directed. "Leave it." He murmured as he picked up her bag for her, grasping her upper arm to steer her towards the door. They didn't get two steps before a siren began to blare.

"Lock it down." Wujing demanded and within moments, a door shut them off from the elevator. "Stop! You were right. Maybe that was the FBI outside. In fact, maybe they're not just outside. Maybe they're right here … in this room."

Red and Lizzie both turned to face Wujing. "Think hard before you accuse anybody of anything." Red's voice was dangerously low.

"A few minutes ago, contact was made from this room to an FBI server. A message I worked so hard to intercept was sent to the Americans. Well, all my instincts said it was her." Wujing pointed at Lizzie. "I trust my instincts. You're smart. The one responsible was smart, but our systems are smarter. Any contact with a government server is flagged for review. So … I know who betrayed us. Wujing spun around and punched Jin Sun in the face. "You son of a bitch!" He began to pummel the poor man to the ground.

"Get him up." Wujing ordered his guards who quickly moved to obey, supporting Jin Sun by holding him under his arms as his head bobbed from side to side, unable to find the strength to keep it up. "I thought you were loyal to us."

"I don't understand." Jin Sun whispered as Red and Lizzie looked on.

"The message was sent from your system, Jin Sun." Wujing kicked him in the stomach, causing Jin Sun to fall to the ground, moaning in pain as Wujing walks over to his desk and throws Jin Sun's laptop to the ground.

"T-that's not possible."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, hey, hey!" Wujing began to shout, smacking Jin Sun in the face as he began to lose consciousness.

"That's not possible."

"It is, and not just one message." Wujing kicked him again. "You gave them everything! Files we've worked on for months! Nobody else had access."

"We have to do something." Lizzie whispered frantically to Red.

"Quiet." He murmured in response.

"We can't just let them do this." She whispered.

At that moment, both Red and Lizzie notice Jin Sun looking at the USB still connected to his laptop where it lay partially shattered on the ground.

"You –"

Red grabbed one of the guards' guns from its holster and shot Jin Sun three times in quick succession right in the chest as Lizzie gazed on in horror.

"As entertaining as all this has been, we really do need to leave now. The next sound you hear is gonna be the FBI knocking on your door, and I, for one, am not gonna be here." Red gesticulated with the hand that still held the gun.

"Wujing! Look at me!" Red ordered as Wujing stared down at Jin Sun's body.

Wujing then grabbed a gun and pointed it at Red and Lizzie.

"You don't kill one of my people. Now I have to kill one of yours."

Red subtly stepped in front of Lizzie, shielding her. "The moment he sent that message, he became worthless to you. You would have beaten him for another 20 minutes and then killed him yourself. But if I let you kill a contractor of mine, I'll lose the trust of all my others – and that's just bad business." Red's voice dipped to a bass that sounded like gravel. "So if you kill her, you better kill me. Or I'm going to kill you."

Red and Wujing stared at each other for a tense moment, sizing each other up.

"You hired me to do a job. It's done. Now let's get out of here." Lizzie stated with bravado.

"Follow me. I have another way out." Wujing finally stated after another tense moment.

/\/\/\/\

"I can get us out of the country." Wujing stated from the front seat of the SUV they were currently escaping in.

"That's very kind, but I'm sure we can muddle through on our own." Red made a circling motion with his pointer finger. "Anywhere in the shade up here would be fine."

The SUV slows to a stop to let Red and Lizzie out.

"I fear I've disappointed you. The deal was for us to actually catch the criminals on the Blacklist, and now Wujing is as good as halfway to Beijing." Red sighed as they watched the SUV head down the street.

"I don't think so." Lizzie murmured, giving him a secret smile. "I put the patch tracker on their car."

Red's only answer was a full bellied laugh.

After a few minutes of standing on the sidewalk, Red's silver Mercedes pulls up.

Dembe quickly hops out of the driver's seat and looks between Red and Lizzie, concern etched into his features.

"Is everything okay?"

"We're fine." Red stated, quickly climbing into the backseat as Lizzie gives Dembe a reassuring hug.

They arrived soon after to Red's hotel. "Luli can stay with me. Dembe will take you wherever you need to go." Red said, looking over at Lizzie.

"You didn't have to kill him." After the adrenaline wore off, Lizzie was suddenly hit with the fact that she'd just watched her father murder someone in cold blood. And it hurt. Like lightening was burning through her synapses and her heart was burning.

"I believe I will always do whatever I feel I have to do to keep you alive. As I have done for over 20 years."

Red went to exit the vehicle, but Lizzie leaned over him and shut his door.

"I held up my end of the deal. Now it's your turn. You owe me an answer."

Red sighed, leaning back in his seat again as if to get comfortable. "What's the question?"

"Why now?"

"Because I'm your father."

"What does that mean? That doesn't explain anything!" Her shout of frustration was loud inside the cramped space of the car.

"I wish the answer were as simple as the question seems. But the truth is, the question isn't simple either. I share your frustration." Red's lips were tight and the pinched creases around his eyes made him appear tired… and old.

"Don't do this, Dad. Don't pull me into your world. Please."

"I will shield you from it as best I can Lizzie. But I cannot make any guarantees. Except one. I will always protect you."

/\/\/\/\

Lizzie was shuffling papers at her desk in their shared office when she looked up to see Ressler walking in. "You okay?" She asked, wincing at the sight of his bruises from his run-in with Wujing's thugs while trying to protect Henry Cho.

"I'll live. Look – I just wanted to say, uh … maybe I've had some doubts about you. Maybe I haven't done the best job of keeping them to myself, but what you did today was good work."

"Thanks." Lizzie said, uncomfortable with the praise. She was still on shaky ground after watching someone be murdered right in front of her. Shot by her own father. She was still…processing, trying to assimilate the two images of her dad – the caring man that had sat there with her in the car, admitting that he'd do anything to protect her – and the man that proved through his actions that the list of 'anything' apparently included murder.

"If you didn't get that message out when you did, Henry Cho wouldn't be alive. Whatever else went down in there, you should feel good about that."

Lizzie's only answer was a nod.

/\/\/\/\

Lizzie sat in her car in front of their house, her head leaning against the head rest as she holds the envelope that held the ballistics report in her hands. Once she finally found the courage, she ripped open the envelope and took out the enclosed pages only to find that the majority of the report was blacked out, labeled 'Classified.' Lizzie slammed her head back against the headrest in frustration.

/\/\/\/\/\

"You were right. Liz Keen is hiding something." Ressler said, walking into Cooper's office and tossing an envelope onto his desk. "I put a flag on her. Any tests, reports, or files – anything she requests gets sent to us first. She brought a bullet and a shell casing into ballistics. At her level, the results were classified. But that's the full report."

"This isn't just classified." Cooper stated as he took out the report and looked it over. "Any briefings on this homicide include the Secretary of Homeland Security. Who else knows about this?"

/\/\/\/\

"Hey!"

Ellie hugs Lizzie as she greets her at the door. Of her own house. "How are you?" Ellie asks.

"Great."

"Let me take this for you. Everyone wanted to be here for Tom." Ellie states, taking Lizzie's jacket and her work bag from her.

"Hey." Tom murmured in greeting as she walked into the living room and sat next to where he had his wheelchair parked.

"Hey." Her greeting came out as more of a sigh.

"Everything go okay?"

"Fine." She murmured as someone handed her a glass of wine.

"Hey, can we, um … talk for a second, pre-lasagna? I just wanted to apologize for this morning."

Lizzie took a large gulp. "It's okay."

"No. I was wrong. It's your job, and, uh, I understand if there are certain secrets that you have to keep right now, and that's okay. Because – because we'll survive, like always. I just want you to – I-I love you. He laughed as one of their guests took hold of his wheelchair and carted him off to the kitchen. "I got to see a man about some lasagna!" He shouted as he was wheeled away.

Lizzie valiantly swallowed the vomit in her mouth.