Barnes/Ludd/Garrick

Previously on The blacklist:

"Why else would he insert himself right now? I'm working for you. How that information got out, I'll be hard-pressed to find out. This is to be the beginning of a series of things happening because of you. I know that. I knew that the moment I signed on with you, I was placing myself in danger."

"So tell me to go, Lizzie," Red says as I stand here and look at him. "Say the word and I'll be gone."

I don't have to mention the chip in his neck. Raymond Reddington could cease to exist in 60 seconds.

He suddenly gets up from the couch he was sitting on. He walks slowly towards me.

"You might not like me, or understand how or why I do what I do. But I'm here because you want answers to questions you haven't even thought of yet."

I bite back the scoff that is bubbling its way into my throat.

"You're here because you walked into my life and demanded to speak with me. Maybe you do what you do because you're a good guy deep undercover or you're a good guy who found himself drawn to a life where rules and ranks don't matter. Maybe you were someone important to me at one time, but you got swept up in a world you couldn't control. Maybe you killed the real Raymond Reddington and took his place. Maybe you gave up your life as a family man to live with an impenetrable cloak around you. But I look in your eyes and see an undying and unrelenting adoration for me. When you look at me, you do so with a history I don't know. So maybe you do what you do to protect me. Protect me from the past I don't remember. And in saying that, I do not buy the fact that you'd be willing to just walk away."

Red is unfazed by what I just told him. He just continues to stare at me with intense and fierce green eyes. He is right smack dab in front of me. "I'm not going to beg you to allow me the privilege of helping you. Tell me to go, Lizzie. I'll get in my car and you'll never see me again."

I can't find it within me to find say something…anything. With the way he looks at me, there is no way he could truly just leave me alone. The only way he'd leave is if I'm protected. He would never leave me vulnerable. Not after all he's done for me.

At my silence, Red just nods.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

I just make my way to the door.

LUDD:

I follow Red's chip to somewhere in suburbia. I go through the house and end up in the garage to find Red and Luli sitting in the garage with what looks to be a soccer Mom. Around the garage hangs counterfeit money. It looks like it's decent quality. This is no ordinary soccer Mom. She's a bit on the Artist side.

"What's on your mind?" Red asks as he walks towards the swing set that is in the front of the house.

"Prints pulled at the residences matches Nathaniel Wolf. Someone changed his face."

Red ignores my report on the case thus far.

"I understand your father is not well. The cancer? It's come back."

"Who the hell told you that?" I ask him.

Dad called me this morning and said he was getting tests done. He didn't say anything about the cancer's return.

"You should be there with him."

"I can't just leave when you're here."

"Maltz," Red suddenly says as he propels himself forward on the swing.

"What?"

"Abraham Maltz. The best kind of surgeon for this kind of business."

Gabe POV:

Liz's Aunt June just called so I'm packing clothes for myself and Melanie while I'm talking to Liz on the phone.

"He hasn't been telling you the truth, Liz. He's apparently sicker than he's led you to believe. He's in surgery now. I'll book you the 6:15 for tomorrow. You'd be in Nebraska by noon."

"Gabe? Thank you."

"No problem, babe. I love you."

"Love you too."

I turn around to see my Liz mini-me looking up at me with sad blue eyes — The blue eyes of her mother.

"You ready, munchkin?" I ask her.

"We gonna fly, daddy? In a plane?"

"That's right, honey. We're gonna go see Papa Sam."

Taking a child through the Airport is probably not ideal, but Melanie doesn't give me or the TSA any problems. She walks through the metal detector like a champ. She clamps onto my hand at the take off, but the fear quickly turns into amazement as she looks out the window.

We arrive in Nebraska and make way directly for the hospital. I get there and ask a nurse at the desk where I can find Sam. She gives me a sad look and I know. I know we are too late. There's no way he could have gone that quickly. Not from the time we were called until now.

Something had to have happened.

Or someone.

Reddington.

He's always the first suspect, isn't he? When it comes to something about my wife, especially.

Melanie shouldn't be here right now, so I take her out of the hospital and we walk around the campus and we stop at a coffee kiosk.

As I watch my daughter play and feed part of her donut to the pigeons, I think how on Earth am I going to tell Liz that the closest thing she's ever had to a father is now dead? How am I supposed to tell her that? I know she's got an important job to do with the General Ludd case, but she's going to blame herself for not getting here on time.

I just sit here watching my daughter until I lay eyes on Reddington who asks if he can sit down.

I'm sure I have the what-the-hell-are-you-doing-here face but I quickly contain it. We're in public after all. Right now, I'm not a Federal LEO and he's not a criminal. We're just two guys having coffee. We're just two guys having coffee that know exactly who each other is and what went on in that hospital. Since I've just laid eyes on him, I know that he killed Sam for sure. Sam has kept who knows how many secrets from Liz and Red wanted to protect them.

"Visiting someone?" he asks me conversationally as he joins me in watching Melanie.

I just look at him and sigh. "I've been sitting here thinking about how I'm going to tell my wife that the closest thing she's had to a father is gone." I rub my face with my hands and sigh.

"It's hard to not say goodbye," he replies.

Time to cut the crap.

"If you keep going the way you are, you will lose her — we all will. The only lesson Liz has learned out of life is that she can't trust anyone but herself and so she will put herself in a situation that is pertinent to that ideal. She's incredibly self-controlled. I have seen her shut off different parts of her personality and turn on others. From a psychological standpoint, she's fascinating but speaking as her husband, it's terrifying because I know that any point, she will walk out our door and not come back. She's that type of person. With her biological parents, and now with Sam, all she's known of life is that people leave her and so she keeps people out from feeling that pain again."

Reddington just stays silent.

"I was there when you two were in Montreal. I heard every word she said to you and read your body language. You can't deny that what she was saying to you affected you. It hit you hard. Liz has a tendency of doing that. It's not hard for her to figure out where to poke a sharp stick. You keep something in mind, Reddington: Blood's not all that it used to be."

"Maybe not," Reddington replies as I stand.

"And if you keep up this nonsense of lying to her, don't think that I won't hesitate a moment before I tell her what I know you did in there," I say, pointing towards the hospital. "And yes, you could consider that as 'blackmailing' you."

I stand up and summon my daughter.

"Who was that man?" Melanie asks me.

"No one you need to know."

Liz's POV

My phone rings when I'm in the car with Ressler. It's Reddington.

"Lizzie, how are you?" he asks me sincerely.

"Not a good time," I reply as I try not to hit my head against the window of the swerving SUV. I'm sure he can hear the revving engine and squealing tires in the background.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about you and wanted to see if you needed anything."

This is suspicious. Sure, I'm flattered he's thinking about me, but then again, he was probably already thinking about me.

"With the case?" I ask as I brace myself for another turn.

"With your father," he corrects. "Are you gonna make it home to Nebraska?"

"All planes are grounded," I say.

"Not mine. Lizzy, are you sure there's nothing I can do for you?"

"No, but I appreciate the offer. I have to go. Bye."

Sam died. The man that took me in and raised me as his own died. He's all I ever knew. He's the first person to show me love. He was it. After I get back from the funeral in Nebraska, I meet Reddington back at the soccer mom counterfeiter's house.

"I should've known when you agreed to help us catch Wolff that you would take something for yourself. We didn't think he could access the safe on the truck, but he did. And he swapped the original drive for a counterfeit, and when we arrested him, he didn't have it."

"I'm sorry about your father."

"You aren't going to derail me."

Red just ignores me.

"How was the funeral? This is going to be a difficult time. The best way to keep the memory of your father alive is to talk about him. Tell me some stories."

Anslo Garrick:

I hold the bunny in my hands. It's the only thing I have left. It's the only thing I have left of the life I knew before Sam.

Flashes of fire come before my eyes. A man's hand in a glove. Reaching for me. Pulling me out.

That's all.

That's all I've ever gotten. I've tried Hypnosis. Gabe's tried all kinds of tricks. I've done it all expect the psychopharmacology route. I'm not doing that willingly. Too much risk.

I get up from the couch with a sigh. I have to go to work. After I'm dressed in a suit, I pull my hair back into a ponytail.

I arrive at work and parking in the underground parking lot. I get out of my car and make my way to the guard. I hand him my ID and he swipes it.

All clear.

I take the lift up and before I can reach the main level, the power goes out. The lift doesn't move and the lights go out.

Is this what I think it is?

Has the post office just been breached?

I bring out my phone to see that I have no service.

Yep. Houston, we have a problem and I'm stuck here in this damn lift.

Not for long.

There's no way I'm breaking out of this box from the front or the sides. That leaves one place: up.

This isn't my first rodeo.

First things first: Take out the signal blockers. We have to have service to call in the Calvary.

— But before that, my ass needs out of this sweatbox.

I take off my boot and use it to bust one of the ceiling tiles loose. I hop up and use my arm strength to haul myself out of here.

One problem down…only a thousand more. I bring out my firearm and secure the area where I dropped from the lift. There's nothing. The party must be happening elsewhere. There might be no hostiles here, but there are downed friendlies. I walk up to one of them and grab their radio.

"Keen here," I say into it.

"Keen, do not try any form of ingress. Hostiles have the high ground."

Not for long.

"Dr. Keen and Reddington are unaccounted for. Presumed down."

No…This can't be happening.

Oh, this is so going down.

These guys have no idea who they just pissed off.

I throw the talkie down. It won't do me much good if I'm making racket while I'm trying to sneak my way in here.

I go about the Post Office and look for the signal jammers. I've found two so far and manage to break them. On my journey, I see a couple of guards and I take them out silently. I wait in shadows until one is in front of me and I snap his neck like a twig.

He never saw me coming.

I grab his vest and everything else he's got on him.

The next one gets his throat slashed by a knife I picked up from the first guy.

I'm not exactly a merciful person sometimes. Guns would make too much racket and call attention to the fact that there is a wrench in their perfectly oiled machine.

I hear a British voice through the talkie that I got off one of the hostiles.

"Bring me every piece of explosive ordinance they have."

The armory. They must have taken the armory.

Fuck.

Well, I at least have enough knives and guns for a small army.

I go about looking for more signal jammers when I run into Aram.

"I've taken out two of the jammers. Is that enough?" I ask him.

"Yes!"

"Shh. Plan now, celebrate later."

"Listen to me," I tell Aram in a maddening whisper. I go through the supplies I have and find a pair of night vision goggles. "Go to the back-up generator and wait for my signal, then cut all power. We're going to take care of these sons of bitches," I tell him. "If anyone tries to stop you, shoot them, do you understand?"

"I've only shot at paper."

"Pretend they're paper."

We get our radios up and on the same channel. All of a sudden, I'm grabbed from behind. I manage to break free from the hold and put a bullet in his head. I've just brought my location to attention so I've got to get out of here quickly and quietly. I've got to make my way back to the Box to get Red, Gabe and everyone else out of harm's way. He said that he'd do anything to keep me alive. I can only return the favor.

I thank god we're in some bunker and not some elite office building. There are pipes all around. I quickly run to the nearest one and trace it's way up. It's an easy enough climb. I've climbed harder things. I parkour my way up and towards the two pipes that run parallel. I make sure I'm aligned properly and I roll down the pipes. I freeze when I see two men running towards what is probably the armory. I've got to take them out. Like a monkey, I hang myself down by my legs; I take my service pistol and my backup and fire at the same time, terminating both guys at once.

"You okay, Liz?" Aram asks me through the com.

"Fine," I whisper. "On my way to the Box. How many hostiles am I looking at?" I ask him.

"Four, I think, and Garrick."

I might like those odds. I continue to travel towards the Box keeping as quiet and moving as quickly as I can.

"All right. Do you have eyes on me?" I ask Aram quietly.

"Yes."

"Okay. As soon as I drop, kill the power." It's about a ten-foot drop to the floor. Land with the knees bent and roll.

I take a deep breath and put on the night vision goggles and ready my weapons and plunge to my fate. As soon as I do, the power goes out. Seeing as I'm barefoot, I manage to land somewhat quietly. Like Aram said, I see four hostiles and being double wielded, I should be able to take them out easily. This is a big room. I never really realized that until I had to breach it. Breach? I have to breach a room in our own building.

I start firing and they fire right back at me.

I get clipped in the shoulder, but continue on. Finally all that is left is Garrick: The reason we're in this mess.

"Hello, my monkey wrench!" Garrick says jovially into the blackness.

I sneak up behind him. "I see you," I tell him while I put a knife to his throat. "Drop the gun or I'll end this right here, right now," I whisper to him in his ear.

"Light us up," I tell Aram from my radio. The generator-powered lights come back on.

"On your knees," I tell him.

"I don't think so," he tells me in his British accent.

I lower my weapon and shoot him in the calf. Suffice it to say that he is now on his knees. I'm going to make him suffer the same fate as Luli who is lying dead beside us. I don't give him the chance to say anything before I fire a shot into the back of his head.

As he falls to the ground, I look inside the box to see Reddington and Gabe there.

Red just stares at me. There is an enormous amount of relief on his face. He is shocked, but it's mostly relief.

"Aram, we're clear," I tell him through the com. I go around and cut everyone's zip ties. The Assistant Director immediately goes to the keypad and unlocks the Box. I run forward to check on Gabe.

He's unconscious, but breathing. It looks like Hell in here.

I quickly find myself getting patched up in an ambulance when Red comes out of the building.

"Why did you do that, Lizzie? You could have been killed," he says when he reaches me.

"That was not my first breach."

"You are to never do that again."

"What? Protect you? Sorry, but it's kind of my job."

I suddenly can't see anything but black and I'm shoved further into the ambulance.

I hear the sirens and people shouting out orders when they take the bag off of my head. I look down to see Reddington there on the gurney.

They're taking his chip out and I was his reason for being near the ambulance.

I see the defib paddles right next to me so I'm totally going after them.

They're fixing to get a good dose of me.

I zap the nearest guard and manage to get his gun.

I shoot the driver and the ambulance swerves, causing me to fly back. The paramedic opens the door and I fly out the back.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.

Dammit!

Without my interference, they will have gotten his chip out by now so there is no point in trying to chase him down.

Politics. Politics. Politics. I hate them. I hate Fowler. She's all pissy because we lost Reddington. Something is not right with her.

I'm working with Aram at one of the desks. I'm waiting to hear back from the hospital, Gabe isn't out of surgery yet.

"Got any Uber-freaky Right-on Profiler tips?" Aram asks me with a hopeful tone.

I flip the switch on. "Garrick knew about this site, which means he would know about others. He's got an inside source, probably."

"You mean a leak?"

"Yep."

We look through old files of decommissioned black sites and see one for Hollins Ferry Road.

That's the address. I don't look back as I run.

"Keen!" I hear Cooper and Ressler shriek.

I get into my car and hightail it towards that address.

I get out my guns from the trunk and prepare to breach. It's apparently too late because when I get to a certain room in this hellhole, I see Garrick dead on the floor and no Reddington.

He's gone.

I tell Cooper as such.

He's not too happy about it, but he's just going to have to deal.

After that's all said and done, I get Lanie out of school and we go to the hospital. This isn't the first time my daughter has seen her father in the hospital. It probably won't be the last. Reddington will kill us. He will take something from this family.

As Melanie is coloring in the corner of the room, my phone rings.

"Hello?" I answer it.

"Lizzie," Red greets me.

"Red," I say with relief. "Where are you?"

"Gone for a short while," he responds.

"Red? Thank you, for saving Gabe's life. He's out of surgery and stable."

"Good. Lizzie, I want you to know that wherever I am, whatever I'm doing. If you are in need. I will be there."

"You have to go, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Be careful out there."

I don't ask him the question that is burning my mind to pieces, because I know that I won't get a straight answer.

Are you my father?

That question could be taken multiple ways. It could be answered multiple ways.

He wouldn't answer me honestly anyway.