A/N: Thank You so much for the awesome reviews and messages. I love it! I seriously appreciate you taking the time to read and let me know what you think.

Disclaimed: I don't own the characters and make no profit from them.

Chapter 4

Lizzie and Dembe had been on the plane for a few hours when the co-pilot came to Dembe and motioned him to speak privately. Just by the look on his face, Liz could tell there was a problem.

"Dembe, you need to tell me what's going on. Is it Red? He's ok, right? Mr. Kaplan is taking care of him. You said he'd be fine!"

She was near hysterical thinking that something happened to Red and she wasn't there to save him.

Tears welled in her eyes, spilled over. The longer Dembe took to answer her, the more upset she became.

"Dembe!"

He finally looked up from his chat with the co-pilot. His face was expressionless.

"Agent Keen, Raymond is fine as far as I know. I was trying to ascertain the entire situation before coming to you with it. I know how you need to have all of the answers. I wanted to have them before we spoke as to not have to bother the pilots again."

Her relief was immediate.

She dashed the tears from her eyes, relieved that Red was ok. She hated that she fell apart like that in front of Dembe.

At first, she was upset that he would answer her like that, but when she thought about the events from today, he was more than justified.

He had to be uncomfortable being so far from Red. Leaving his protection to others.

He killed for her. He didn't hesitate to protect her because he knew Red put her safety and well-being above all else.

Her voicing her fears were probably compounding his own.

For a Board Certified Psychologist, it wouldn't hurt her to be a little more attentive to the feelings of others.

She couldn't help it. Her feelings for Red were raw, made her selfish.

"I'm sorry Dembe. You are doing everything you can and I think you for that. I'm just..he's hurt…and I don't like being…away."

Dembe's face softened. They had more in common than he thought.

"Raymond should be fine. Mr. Kaplan is good. Her team is very skilled. I do think you should know that the other plane was shot down. Nothing is showing up on our radar, but that doesn't mean that we are clear. Hopefully, they weren't aware there were two planes. That was a last minute idea of mine."

She had never head Dembe divulge so much information before.

"I am sorry that people had to lose their lives for us to get away, but I am not upset that we are all safe."

He put a hand on her arm in comfort. "If you ask Raymond, he will tell you that no sacrifice is too large to keep you safe."

And there go the tears again. "Oh, Dembe. I'm sure he'd say the same to you."

She tried to smile, but her face just twisted into a grimace that was in no way smile-like.

He didn't do tears. Her tears? The tears of his brother's love? They made him exponentially more anxious

"Try to get some rest, Agent Keen, we have a couple more hours before we reach our destination."

Nodding, she replied "I'll try. But if I may ask, where are we going?"

"Ecuador."

Red came gradually to awareness. His room was opulent. King sized, four-poster hand carved bed, fireplace in the corner adorned with overstuffed chairs, and copious bookcases filled with reading materials.

Why did his chest hurt? He remembered being shot, the days following, and hating the hospital room.

Lizzie. Dembe. The Director. The pain grew to encompass his entire body. Never had he felt such pain.

They were gone. He had never contemplated a world that didn't hold both Elizabeth Keen and Dembe Zuma.

He tried to call out. Mr. Kaplan wouldn't be far away, control freak that she was, but to no avail, his throat was on fire.

Water. There, next to his bedside was a table with a bottle of water and a box of tissues on it.

He had a feeling he would need the tissues more than the water.

After a drink, he called for Mr. Kaplan, but didn't quite get her name out before she walked into the bedroom.

"Before you ask-they are fine… we think. As far as we can tell, Dembe arranged to have two planes depart around the same time. One of them was shot down. However, the alarm system in a safe house in Ecuador was deactivated. No incorrect codes. It's only been a few minute since then. We should give them time to make contact before jumping to conclusions."

His eyes closed in relief, in regret at his uselessness.

"How long have I been out?"

"A little over 6 hours. I gave you enough to half kill a horse. I was hoping for more time. More answers. I dislike my ignorance of the situation."

He had hope. Hope that Lizzie and Dembe were alive and well. One more week and come hell or high water, he would be on a plane to Ecuador.

Tbc…

A/N: I know this is short and it's been a while, but RL is kicking my butt lately. I'll try to have a better update in the next day or so. Thank you for sticking with me, you are truly amazing!