Please see first chapter for disclaimer regarding Blacklist. (Of course I don't own it! Just borrowing for entertainment purposes.) I've replied to everyone's reviews if I could (I appreciate you taking the time to leave me a comment) and anyone I could not reply to Thank you as well! You are just as important! I am so pleasantly surprised at the amount of interest this story has continued to draw and I only hope to keep entertaining you.

My apologies for the delay and on with our story:

Meera Malik had been shadowing Ressler's movement as he had prepared a response team. The file Reddington had provided her was long forgotten when Aram alerted her to the jammer anomaly. While following Ressler through his tactical planning, Meera thought it odd to be prepping a response team knowing full well they were without insight regarding situation or Keen's current location. Keeping to the shadows in the hallway beneath Cooper's office she watched as Ressler climbed the stairs to Cooper's office. Though she was surprised to see the two men shortly after retreating down the steps and descending upon Aram.

"What the hell happened to the feed?" Cooper cried out; storming down the steps from his office with Ressler close on his tail as all the screens in the war room were showing just static.

Aram turned from his computer to Cooper, "There was- what appeared to be- an incursion on the area where Agent Keen was being held. Lucian shot out the camera shortly after the attack began."

Confirming all eyes were occupied with Aram's computer Meera climbed up the recently vacated stairs and slipped into Cooper's open office door. Staying low, she quickly moved across the room towards his desk. She wasted no time beginning to rummage through the jumble of papers and other files strewn half hazardly on his desk. When this initial search produced nothing, she started opening each desk drawer. When neither left drawer produced anything remotely useful or interesting she moved her search to the right side of the desk. There, in his top drawer, sat exactly what she had been looking for: a pocket-sized signal jammer that would be able to produce the same type of interference that Aram had been picking up on his scanner. Leaving the jammer in the desk she finished scanning the remaining drawers coming up with nothing else at that time but it was enough for now.

Down in the war room, Cooper and Ressler shared a confused look as Aram pulled up the last 30 seconds of the video and replayed it. "See here- Agent Keen makes the comment 'He's coming for me' right before Lucian shoots the camera."

"It had to be Reddington!" Ressler announced, moving to Aram's table to look at the screen.

Meera closed the last drawer and made her way back out of Cooper's office, descending the stairs as quietly as possible and joining the congregation around Aram's desk. "Anything yet?"

Cooper shook his head at Meera as she joined the fray before turning his attention back to Aram, "Were you able to narrow down the signal location before it disappeared?"

Aram shook his head, "No but there is chatter on the local police channel about reports of 'excessive gunfire and explosions' by a 'rent a badge' in the warehouse section of the business district less than an hour from here. PD is en-route as we speak."

"Send the location to my phone- we already have a team prepped to roll." Ressler replied taking off for the exit.

"I want you to continue monitoring all chatter and keep checking local hospitals for any patients being admitted with gunshot wounds." Cooper clipped shortly, watching the many screens in the room filling with running data from Aram's laptop.

XxXxXxXx

"Pressure here!" Red directed to Careles as he knelt down over the fallen FBI agent.

Red searched for a pulse on Liz's carotid- finding her pulse weak but steady as Dembe reached for his com unit, "Juliet is hit! I repeat Juliet is hit and she is down. We need Medi-vac ASAP! Alpha Team has neutralized threat. Romeo is checking vitals but she's lost a lot of blood."

"Roger That! Medic ETA 90 seconds!" Replied Linkin, one of the men Red had designated to Secondary for just this reason.

"You've got 2 options for medical treatment-" Mr. Kaplan's voice echoed through the teams com units relaying their only two options regarding medical trauma treatment in the immediate area. "Mercy is 8 miles and St. Joe is 15 but we have a associate who is a trauma doctor there."

"Raymond..." Dembe turned his attention back to Red waiting for him to make the call.

Red held his finger on Liz's pulse, every second could mean the difference between her surviving or not. It wouldn't mean anything going to someone he trusted if she died on the way.

The stern voice of Mr. Kaplan over their com units broke Red out of his reverie, "Gentlemen! We have incoming local PD- five minutes."

Linkin and Clawson sprinted up to the group carrying their medical supplies and instantly knelt beside Liz. "Evac is ready- we have to move her." Clawson replied quickly, getting to work applying a blood pressure cuff.

When Red still hadn't taken his eyes off Liz, Dembe grabbed his shoulder to shake him, " Raymond! You need to make a choice- now!"

"Mercy. Take her to Mercy hospital." Red replied sharply, seeming to snap out of his daze and get back on task.

"Bring the board! We're moving!" Linkin reported into his com as Clawson looked up from the blood pressure cuff. "BP is 99 over 75 but dropping."

Two men from Red's secondary team rushed in carrying a backboard and straps for securing Liz for transport. It took the skilled men only moments to gently move the injured woman on to the board, secure her and take off for their transport.

Red ran with the men as they rushed towards the open doors of their van keeping in physical contact with Liz the entire trip. The crew themselves wasted no time settling inside, the driver taking off as quickly as possible without causing further damaged by jostling the injured woman.

Clawson continued to monitor Liz, " She's dropping: 94 over 70."

Linkin had already picked up his phone and contacted Mercy Hospitals emergency line as they traveled, "This is EMT Brad Linkin- I'm in route with a 30 something female, single GSW to the left chest. Pulse is faint and BP is 94 over 70 and dropping. Inbound ETA is?"

Tapping the driver on the shoulder he called back, "5."

"5 minutes." Glancing up at Red he nodded once while disconnecting his call. Trying to stout her blood loss he spoke, "Lose the flak and when we arrive you need to play family member: Father or husband- I don't care. If you don't; you will be froze out of any further contact and updates regarding her situation. You will be directed to a waiting room while she is rushed into a trauma room. I will stay with her as long as they let me."

Red quickly stripped off his vest and resumed holding tightly to her hand as he nodded, "Thank you." No one else spoke the rest of the trip, save for Clawson updating on her blood pressure.

XxXxXxXx

Mr. Kaplan moved quickly through the warehouse with the secondary team. Their mission was to collect any and all evidence of them being there. "I want Com units, cell phones and any ID's if they have them. Grab the camera as well. We have 90 seconds to evacuate before PD arrives."

Wasting no time she headed directly into the center of the warehouse- her target was Lucian himself. When Mr. Kaplan approached his body she immediately started collecting his com unit, smartphone and a burner phone she found in his back pocket. She didn't have enough time to collect the bullets or any other evidence from his body before she heard communication is her com unit.

"Mr. Kaplan we have company," Secondary team member Hauss informed the group inside. "Evac to point C."

"Let's go boys!" Mr. Kaplan called out retreating towards the back of the warehouse.

XxXxXxXx

"I've got no pulse!" Cried Linkin as the black van pulled into the ER parking lot, maneuvering close to the trauma room's entry doors.

Immediately and without instruction Red began chest compressions as the back doors were forced opened by Linkin. Sprinting out of the van for help he was followed closely by Clawson, Dembe and Careles who collected the first stretcher they came across- returning it to the van.

"Stay with me Lizzie- hang on." Red whispered to her as he kept his chest compressions shallow and rhythmic. "Do not give up on me Lizzie...I'm here." He panted through the emotions threatening him. Watching her pale lifeless face, Red felt like he was the one who had the open wound in his chest.

Watching as his men moved back to the van with the stretcher, Red straddled Liz's legs on the backboard so his men could transferred them onto the stretcher and begin rushing for the door that Linkin had entered through. By the time they reached the sliding entry doors a trauma team following Linkin converged on the gurney. "We have trauma one set up and a full team is waiting."

Red refused to stop his compressions as they wheeled the stretcher down the hallway towards the trauma room. Linkin finally grabbed Red's arm to still his movements, "We have her, she's in good hands."

Finally relinquishing his post Red reluctantly climbed quickly down from the stretcher. Red stood at the swinging doors leading to trauma room one with his team flanking around him and watched the trauma team that held Elizabeth's life in their hands disappear behind another set of doors.

"We're going to go handle clean-up," Careles whispered, stepping close to Red and nodding at Clawson.

"Gentlemen." A young nurse wielding a clipboard addressed the group as she approached hesitantly, "We have a room where you can wait. It's right this way."

Turning she led Red and his team to a small room just down the hallway, "Family or friends?" She inquired, opening the door for the group- watching two men enter the room as the others headed for the exit.

Moving inside away from the nurse, Red answered, "Family." Standing just inside the door, he faced away from the nurse taking time to compose himself.

The nurse made a few notes on her clipboard, "Relation?"

"Husband."

Pausing slightly at his remark she nodded, "Patients name?"

"Elizabeth Smith."

"Blood type?"

"O positive."

"Known allergies?"

"None."

Flipping through the rest of the sheets she shook her head, "The rest is just trivial benefit information that isn't important at this point. We will keep you up to date as information becomes available during her surgery. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

Watching his friend, Dembe nodded at the nurse, "Water please." The nurse nodded and took her leave.

Dembe stood close behind Red as he watched the door swing closed to the private room. "I'm sorry."

Red scratched at his head as he turned to face Dembe, confusion clearly evident on his face. "For what?"

"I told you I would take the shot," Dembe replied hanging his head, unable to make eye contact with his friend. The heavy weight of their current situation sat uncomfortably in his chest.

"This isn't your doing Dembe..." Sliding his hand down his face he held it over his mouth as he tried to reign in his emotions. "You trusted me Raymond," Dembe shook his head, "Had I put him down with the first shot Agent Keen would not be in this position. I let you down."

"No. This is entirely my doing." Red moved to Dembe and grabbed him by the shoulder forcing him to look him in the eye. "The moment I associated myself with her I placed a noose around her neck that has been tightening since that day. The fault for this situation is entirely my own."

Both men fell silent again, each moving to take a seat facing one another in the small room.

Dembe eventually pulled out his phone to check for any messages from the group. Breaking the silence of the room, he spoke softly, "Agent Malik has been attempting to contact you, she said it is urgent."

Red sat back with a blank look on his face before glancing once again at the door, "Meera can wait."

XxXxXxXx

Agent Ressler and his team arrived at the warehouse location in just under an hour. By the time they arrived the local PD and mobile CSI unit was already in full swing. Ressler maneuvered to the command center for the police investigation, displaying his FBI credentials and introducing himself immediately. "I'm Special Agent Donald Ressler with the FBI field ops, who is in charge?"

A heavy set man in a too small suit stepped forward, "That would be me." The burly man extended his hand, "Detective Sergeant Howard Miles. What can I do for you?"

Ressler nodded to the number of body bags laying behind the coroners van parked just outside of the warehouse, "We have reason to believe this site was used for kidnapping and torturing one of our field agents. Did anyone make it?"

Detective Miles shook his head, "No I'm afraid not, it was a massacre inside. We are still combing the building searching for survivors but we don't have high hopes."

"How many so far?" Ressler inquired.

"Last count was 18 or 19. We couldn't tell for sure exactly how many had been hit by whatever explosion seemed to be the entry point." Detective Miles pointed to a large hole on the outside of the building. "This was no petty gang 'turf war', whatever happened here was military grade precision. These poor bastards," Miles waved his hand over the row of body bags, "they didn't have a chance."

"Was there a woman found?" Donald figured it best to find out now how they would need to approach this situation. If Keen had been one of those bodies, they would have lost their only chance at catching Reddington again. Keen was the only reason he was still around and Ressler was positive that if she was dead Reddington would never been seen again.

"A woman? No, all males: late 20's to early 40's." The detective turned to observe Ressler, "We found nothing suggesting a woman was even here."

Ressler nodded and glanced around, "My team is going to run through the scene if you don't mind."

"Be my guest." Detective Miles replied heading back to the coroner.

Ressler directed his team to sweep the whole area, once they had disbursed he picked up his phone and dialed Cooper. "She's gone, everyone else is dead. Reddington must have her."

"Did you find Lucian?" Cooper asked, knowing Ressler would understand the meaning behind his question. If Lucian was dead and still had his burner phone or smartphone on his person it could lead to some very difficult questions being asked in the near future.

"I'm going to go inside now to investigate, I will keep you informed." Ressler replied disconnecting and heading for the warehouse.

XxXxXxXx

Neither man paid any attention to the length of time they sat in silence together before the door finally swung open from the outside revealing a doctor removing his mask. "Mr Smith?" He inquired stepping into the room and glancing between both men.

When Dembe gestured towards Red the man moved forward offering his hand in greeting, "I'm Doctor Holloway, I've been working on your wife Elizabeth."

"How is she?" Red asked immediately as he stood up, quickly moving towards the Doctor and accepting his hand, "Do not sugar coat this situation-I need cold hard facts Doctor."

Doctor Holloway glanced between the two men and nodded, "She's gone into cardiac arrest while on the table- twice." He explained clinically. "We are working diligently to repair the damaged left ventricle that the bullet grazed on it's way through but if she goes critical again she may VFIB and I'm not confident we will be able to pull her back."

When neither men made move to comment, the doctor continued, "The truth is: it isn't looking promising at this moment. If there are any family members you need to call I would suggest doing so right now."

"There is no one else." Red replied quietly, allowing everything the doctor was saying to sink in as the gravity of their situation hit him full force.

Again Holloway paused, allowing them the opportunity to ask questions. Holloway turned to Red, "Will you be making the decision regarding life support?"

Red had barely taken a breath let alone reacted to the information the doctor was giving them. This could not happen now. It would not happen now. He had spent too many years in the darkness to have his only chance at sunlight ripped from his grasp in a cruel twist of fate. Taking a calming breath he spoke softly, "I already have…"

Doctor Holloway nodded with understanding, "Alright, I will have a nurse bring in the pape…"

With lightening speed Red pulled a gun from seemingly out of no where- jamming it into the Doctors neck, "I've decided she is going to pull through." Breathing very deeply, Red paused to let the situation sink into the good doctor before he continued. "Her will to live is very strong and so should be your will to save her."

Fear was clearly evident in the doctors eyes as sweat started forming on his top lip and he shook involuntarily, "Sir- we are working tirelessly to-"

Red shook his head effectively silencing the man, "I want you to go back inside and tell your colleagues to do the possible- then the impossible- then the unthinkable. Until she is out of danger." The sound of the guns hammer being cocked echoed in the small room. "Because Good Doctor, her body will not be alone in the morgue if you fail: do you understand?"

Doctor Holloway nodded emphatically as Red lowered the gun, disengaging the hammer once again. The terrified man wasted no time retreating from the room post haste, leaving the two men alone once again.

Red handed the firearm to Dembe, "Please handle this and contact Meera but do not tell her we have Lizzie or our current situation. Collect whatever information she has and tell her we will be in touch shortly."

Dembe nodded at him, hiding the firearm in the waistband of his pants and leaving the room to take make the call.

AN: I hope you have found this update adequate and are still enjoying the story. I do apologize once again for the delay in this update. I normally do a majority of my writing at work since it's very difficult to find time to sit down to write after I get home but work has picked up as of late causing delays in my writing. As a reminder this story is not being beta'd at this time so if you see anything that I have missed please do not hesitate to point it out so I may correct it. I'd like to remind you that even though I re-read this and edit it a number of times, sometimes I see what I expect it to read not necessarily what it is says.

As always, leave love or hate just let me know someone is still reading this.

Always,

Lady