A/N In the stewmaker, Red rescues Liz and she calls him a monster. In Luther Braxton he rescues her and she screams at him to leave her alone. They may be on the run together, but not much has changed. Lizzington fun. Disclaimed as always.

3. Dislocation

Red watched as she took down her assailant with ease, knocking his punch sideways and bringing her fist up under his nose in a way that made even Red wince. She was magnificent. He had never expected that they would be ambushed, otherwise he would never have come with Liz without backup to this draughty warehouse. It was too dangerous, especially now that they were on the run and her profile was still so high. He would have to keep her better hidden from now on, he thought.

But the truth was, however much he wanted to protect her, she was more than capable of holding her own; shrewd, adaptable and with decent combat skills that he wanted to help her improve. FBI training can only go so far. She would, unfortunately, have to learn that in some cases you not only should kick a man when he is down, but make sure he was never up in the first place.

He saw a shadow in his peripheral vision and spun round quickly, shooting his would be attacker in the kneecap and then, when he saw the man reach for his gun, in the head. His reaction time had been off; he had to admit he had been distracted watching Liz in action. He heard her cry out behind him and turned back in time to see her face down on the floor, a brute of a man twisting her arm behind her back.

He didn't hesitate to shoot the man in the head, killing him instantly. He did a quick 180 checking that they'd taken out the last of their assailants, before kneeling beside her. She hadn't cried out again but he could hear her breathing hard, and see that her teeth were buried in her bottom lip with the effort of keeping quiet.

"Stay still, let me have a look at you." He turned her gently on her side and gingerly slid her jacket off, causing her to whimper a little. He didn't need to touch her to know that her right shoulder was dislocated; the top of her arm was a tell-tale square shape and she was doing a valiant job of trying not to scream.

He moved round so that she could see him, giving her a gentle smile. "Ok, it's a dislocated shoulder. You wouldn't believe the number of times this has happened to me; smarts like hell but easily dealt with." Then he noted her palm turning a dusky color and his previously jovial tone turned serious for a moment. "Sweetheart, you're losing blood flow to your arm – I'm afraid we are going to have to reduce it here. This is going to hurt."

"Just do it quickly Reddington" she said through clenched teeth.

He rolled gently her on her back and knelt beside her on one knee, arranging her arm at a 90 degree angle at her side. He did his best to distract her as he worked to get her in position. "There's a trick to surviving difficult situations like this one, Lizzie – find a special place in your mind, far away, that makes you feel peaceful and happy – I always find myself returning to the Piazza del Campo, a smooth bottle of Valpolicella Classico over a rich Mediterranean sunset, brilliant reds and oranges-"

At that moment he grasped her wrist tightly and rotated her arm sharply upwards. She screamed in agony as it popped back into place, breathing hard through tears as he flexed her arm to check the reduction had been successful.

"There, all done. Feel better?"

She nodded mutely, her face pale. He reached for her good arm to help her up.

"Out of interest, what did you think of Lizzie? Where's your special place?"

She paused before answering, her voice low and sweet. "You remember the King family? The auction?"

He looked at her earnestly and nodded.

"You were tied up on display and they were going to sell you to the highest bidder." She spoke in honey tones.

"I remember, Lizzie. Did you think of the time you saved me from Yabari? I think of that moment often myself."

"No, Red…I thought I should have bought you myself so I could enjoy shoving your shoulder back in without anesthesia whilst babbling at you about wine and fucking sunsets!"

He guffawed with laughter. "Touché Lizzie, Touché.