A/N Red and Liz pull a sting operation, but Red has a surprise in store for Liz. Kinky Lizzington cop fun. I tried to resist the cop pictures… I tried and failed. As ever, not mine.

5. Bad cop

Liz watched as Red sat down on the bed of the dingy one-bedroom apartment that would be the site of what he referred to as their little sting operation. He seemed strangely unperturbed by the brown water marks on the walls, and the sickening smell of grease from the restaurant below. What did bother him, it seemed, was the uniform that he himself had insisted be their disguise, despite Liz's protestations.

"While I don't hold the Metro PD in particularly high regard, it's frankly inhumane to require anyone to suffer this cheap polyester getup day in and day out. You know, perhaps this explains the high levels of police brutality complaints in DC."

He ran his finger around the starched collar before undoing the first two buttons, revealing a pristine white undershirt.

She rolled her eyes. "We have bigger problems. The Troll Hunter isn't just some teenage computer geek messing with their local paper – he's organised with some serious equipment, and he's targeting every one of the journalists you enlisted to expose the cabal. Without them we have no way of fighting back. We need Aram. We need the taskforce." Her voice quavered a little.

Red had been unusually quiet for the past couple of days since their flight, speaking to her only to provide instructions. They were wasting no time. They would continue hunting blacklisters, he said, this time focussing exclusively on those who would further their plan of exposing the director and those with interests in his clandestine organisation.

He had barely looked at her since their flight, but now he raised his eyes to her and allowed the guilt to come in. Because of him she had lost everything she cared about, the job she worked for years to get, and now he was taunting her, dressing her in this costume which made a mockery of her fall from grace from the higher echelons of law enforcement. Despite it all, she had held it together well, but as he looked at her now he could tell she was wavering; her badge was glittering as her chest rose and fell with quickening breathing and her eyes were filled with doubt.

He rose from the bed and approached her. He raised his hand to pat her on the arm. "Lizzie, I know this is…difficult. You don't have the taskforce, but you have me, and I have survived in this world for many years. Now let's focus on the task at hand – it might even be fun." His eyes twinkled.

He nodded towards the laptop on the table. "Right now the Troll Hunter is scanning that hard drive, and when he's through someone will be on their way here to eliminate Washington's latest underground blogging sensation – you." He handed her a duffle bag from the bed. "Now get changed quickly and make sure you hide the uniform. You're not a cop tonight Lizzie - you're a criminal." She frowned at him – it was so fleeting she wasn't sure she'd seen it at all…had he just winked at her?

She took the bag silently and went into the bathroom. "You still haven't told me why we had to dress like this or how this is going to play out" she said huffily through the door. "So what, he comes here to kill me and you get him first?"

Red slid his fingers between the dusty blinds of the window, watching the street below. "Not quite, Lizzie. The Troll Hunter isn't going to come here himself – we need a way to lure him out."

Liz emerged from the bathroom in ripped black jeans and a tank top, a frown on her face. "And just how are you planning to do that?"

He continued to watch the street intently. "Simple, Lizzie. We need to present a challenge worthy of his talents."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Which is?"

He turned to her then, with a small smile on his lips. "You're going to get arrested."

"WHAT? No! Red, that's insane-"

He looked back through the blinds. "Showtime" he said, and she thought for a moment that she could detect a hint of enjoyment in his voice.

They heard footsteps on the stairs and, panicked, she turned towards the door. Red was behind her in a heartbeat, grasping her wrists together behind her back. She allowed her instinct to take over, kicking him in the shin and wrenching her arms free.

"Calm down ma'am, you're in enough trouble as it is." Red didn't seem at all bothered by her escape attempt. Anger flared insider her and she turned around to shove him. He deflected easily before slipping his foot in front of her, taking her deftly to the floor. She recognised the move; it was academy 101 – taking down a combative suspect whilst causing them minimal harm. He knelt gently over the backs of her knees and handcuffed her, while she lay there speechless.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney – if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you. Have you understood these rights as I've explained them?"

Liz was filled with rage as she listened to his imperious voice reading her her rights. There was no doubt that he was enjoying this. She began to respond "FUC-" but at that moment the door opened and a man in his thirties appeared. Apart from a slightly worn leather jacket, the assassin looked entirely harmless.

Red looked up sternly. "Sir, do you know this woman?"

The man blinked at him. "Um…no – sorry officer, I must have the wrong apartment."

Red nodded, before dragging Liz to her feet, her hands cuffed behind her back. "Then I'm going to have to ask you to move along now please – I'm sure you want to avoid obstructing an arrest."

The man nodded and stepped back into the corridor. Red walked Liz out of the apartment, chatting loudly. "Right you are ma'am, lets' get you booked in down town. On the way you can tell me what a 'blogger' is anyway – I'm rather out of touch."

~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~BL~

Red walked an infuriated Liz out of the building to their police cruiser. To her horror, he opened the back door and ushered her in, placing his hand on the top of her head as per procedure. As they cleared the area she caught his eye in the mirror, enough to see the crinkle round his eyes as he smiled in amusement. She kicked the cage between the front and back of the car emphatically.

"You are unbelievable! You're not actually taking me to the precinct?!"

"Heavens no – we just needed your would-be assassin to think that's where you're being taken. The Troll Hunter is subtle and efficient. There's no way his people would risk taking out a cop, especially as he would have assumed I'd have back up. No, he's going to try to get to you on the inside. That's how we'll track him down."

"And you couldn't share any of this with me?" Liz spat.

Red smiled at her in the mirror. "I find spontaneous performances to be the most convincing, don't you?" His tone was infuriatingly smug. "Besides, I highly doubt you would have agreed to let me handcuff you…"

"You're damn right I wouldn't! Now pull over and take these things off me now!"

Red chuckled loudly. "Oh I would Lizzie, but I think I'll have to wait for you to calm down first. I've seen what you're capable of when you're angry with me."

Liz landed another thunderous kick on the cage behind his head. "You haven't seen anything yet!"

Red smiled at her in the mirror. "Now, now…settle down, ma'am."

The End.