Shower curtain hooks rattled loudly as they slid across the rod as the shower curtain opened behind Red's back. Chilly air wafted into the shower and with it came Lizzy—naked and in the middle of brushing her teeth. Red barely had time to process what he was seeing before she squeezed some of her body wash onto a loofah and started sudsing herself up.

"Lizzy, what on earth?"

She pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth to speak clearly. "Sorry, didn't have time to wait until you finished. Ressler's gonna be here in five minutes to pick me up; Cooper wants me in yesterday—something about a break in the case. Good morning, by the way," she said, and brushed her lips against his briefly, leaving behind a minty tingle.

Well, then. Red hadn't expected the first time they'd share a shower to be under these circumstances, but their relationship and the path that it took had never been what he'd call predictable. Luckily, he'd almost rinsed off completely by the time she jumped in the shower with him, so it only took a few seconds to finish and leave her to her own ablutions.

Before he stepped out of the shower, Red put his hands on Lizzy's shoulders and kissed the back of her head, her wet hair sticking to his lips; she leaned into his touch even as she rushed to clean herself. Red grabbed hold of the shower curtain to pull it closed behind him, but stopped for a long moment, breath catching in his throat at the sight before him.

Lizzy stood under the spray of the shower as sunlight poured in from the window high on the wall. She was disheveled and rushed and half-covered in soap suds, softer in places than she had been the last time he'd seen her completely undressed—Good God, she was beautiful.

Red sighed and turned away to towel off.

He dressed quickly, but he still barely had time to fetch Agnes from her crib and set her down among her toys in the living room before Ressler pounded on the front door.

"Hey, Keen, come on! What's taking so long?" came Ressler's muffled voice.

Red rolled his eyes and pulled the door open; Ressler did the most comically obvious double-take Red had ever seen outside of a movie.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you, too, Donald. Elizabeth told me I should let you in, although personally I would've much preferred to wait and see how long it took for your training to take over and for you to decide to kick the door down."

"Spare me the pontificating, Reddington, and answer my damn question."

"I would think the answer was obvious—Elizabeth's sitter wasn't available so early in the morning on such short notice. Since you and Harold aren't being accommodating to the scheduling difficulties of a single mother, I offered my services to bridge the gap."

"It's your blacklister she has to profile."

"And it couldn't wait until 9 AM?"

"He's a flight risk."

"He's not the only one. Excuse me for a moment, Donald," Red said, and quickly side-stepped Ressler into the hallway. "Don't you even think about it, you little escape artist." Red scooped a giggling Agnes up into his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and clung onto him for dear life as he carried her back inside.

"I guess this means Keen doesn't mind you being around her daughter anymore."

Agnes squeezed him tighter and burrowed her head next to his, suddenly shy under Ressler's humorless attention; Red pressed a soft, calming kiss to her temple and rested his hand on the back of her head, downy-soft with her fine baby hair.

"We've made peace with each other," he said, his voice sounding strange and stilted enough to his own ears that he wondered why Ressler didn't key in on it. He settled so naturally into his role as Agnes' father, it was odd and uncomfortable to be reminded that their relationship was not as clear to others. Even if it was much safer that it wasn't.

Agnes must have sensed the rising tension in his body, because she started to fuss, her breathing hitching in a way that signaled an incoming crying jag. Red searched around for one of the emergency pacifiers Lizzy stashed around the apartment and held it up for her, and she grabbed it swiftly to stuff into her mouth. From the safety and security of Red's arms, she turned her inquisitive gaze on Ressler, finally content.

"Why is she looking at me like that?" Ressler asked, his voice low and uneasy. "It's weird."

"You don't have much experience with children, do you, Donald?"

"You're telling me it doesn't make you uncomfortable when someone looks at you like they can see into your soul?"

"I'm flattered that you think I have a soul."

"Well, the kid likes you."

"I suppose she does."

The trio stood in silence for a moment, Ressler and Agnes studying each other while Red observed them both.

"Keen's kinda like that sometimes," Ressler said. "Like she can see right through your bullshit. Guess it makes sense her kid is, too."

"I'd scold you for your language, but I think we're safe. For a few more weeks at least."

"She sure is cute, though. Even if she looks like she's judging my every move." Ressler leaned in closer and ducked his head to better meet Agnes' eyes. "Hey, kid, don't spend so much time around Reddington, he'll start to rub off on y—"

Agnes reached out then and covered Ressler's mouth with the entirety of her little hand, silencing him and sending his eyebrows up his forehead in shock; Red threw back his head and laughed.