A/N: It took some time to figure out what to do with this chapter. But finally I had an idea. Another fight between Red and Lizzie but this will be the last tough one, I think. Dembe is there to give Lizzie some words of wisdom. Hopefully she'll listen to them. Thanks to those who reviewed. I truly appreciate it. I hope you will enjoy this chapter too.

Chapter five

The next few days Red and Lizzie spent apart. When one was in the cabin, the other would be outside. The only time they spent together was at dinner. Not much was spoken though. The silence and tension weren't doing Lizzie any good. She hardly slept and had never felt so alone. She hadn't been taking care of herself. Quietly she joined Red in the kitchen to have another quiet dinner. She hadn't eaten much these days, but it wasn't due to Red's cooking skills. What he made always looked and tasted delicious. She took her seat at the table and watched Red set the table. He'd prepared a big pan of vegetable soup and some bread. He made sure her bowl was nice and full. He'd noticed her lack of appetite and it worried him. It wasn't easy for him to ignore his need to care for her, but he had to. If she needed him she was going to have to ask. She was going to push him away if he was going to coddle her. But when he saw her yet again hardly eating anything he knew he couldn't keep silent any longer.

"Is something wrong with the soup?"

Lizzie shook her head, but kept stirring the soup.

"You need to eat."

She put the spoon down and pushed her bowl of soup away. Red also put his spoon down and looked at her with his head tilted. ""You're not taking care of yourself." He admonished.

"I'm doing just fine."

"Really?" He stood up from the table and took a step towards her. "You're hardly eating, you're hardly sleeping. How is that taking care of yourself?"

Seeing him approach her made her stand up quickly and move away from him. "Stop it, okay. I know how to take care of myself. Stop treating my like a child."

"Then start behaving as a grown up." He countered. Their fights never seemed to lead to something productive.

"All I am to you is a means to an end. That's it." She crossed her arms and glared at him. "You need me because you need the FBI."

Red shook her head at her words. "Then you don't know me at all." Had he really been so foolish to believe in what they were and what they could be? Love blinded people and it seemed like it had blinded him too. "You're free to come and go as you please."

"Right." She said, the sarcasm obvious in her voice. "You're making me believe I have a choice, like a good puppet master does, but I have none."

Her refusal to accept him hurt him deeply. "Your need to keep ignoring what's happening right in front of you, will destroy us. I'm right here." He hardly ever raised his voice at her, but he had done so now. "I'll give you a choice, Elizabeth." He paused. "Tell me to leave."

"Right." She didn't believe him for one bit. "As if you would really leave."

"Yes, I would. But your problem is that if you tell me to leave, you can no longer blame me for leaving. It will be your fault and your fault only. There will be no one to blame but yourself. I will ask again. Tell me to leave."

"Fine, leave." She screamed at him.

"Very well. I will call Dembe and ask him to pick me up." He quickly left her alone and went upstairs to grab his bag. While waiting for Dembe Red made a quick phone call to Harold Cooper telling him he was no longer working together with the FBI.

A few minutes after that phone call, Lizzie's phone rang. Not looking at the caller id she answered the phone curtly. "What?"

"Agent Keen." The authoritative voice of her boss came through the phone. "Explain to me why Reddington just ended the taskforce." He demanded.

"He what? When"

"He called me a few minutes ago. Fix this or bring him in Agent Keen."

She stared at the phone for a moment. Red had just ended the taskforce? Did that means she no longer had a job? Were they no longer partners? Was this their final goodbye? Was telling him to leave the final words she would ever speak to him? Before she could storm up to him there was a soft knock on the door. It was probably Dembe ready to pick up Red. Still angry she opened the door with more force than usual. However when she saw the tall, muscular man with gentle brown eyes greet her with a small nod her anger abated.

"Dembe." She greeted him.

"Agent Keen." Dembe looked over Lizzie's shoulder to see if he could spot his friend. When he didn't he knew he had some time. "Could you step outside with me for a moment?"

"Of course."

"Don't forget your coat." Dembe said when she was about to step outside without one. "It is cold."

"Are you certain of what you are about to do?" Dembe asked her when she joined him outside.

"What do you mean?" She shoved her hands in her coat pockets and moved around a bit to keep warm.

"You are asking him to leave. Are you ready to live your life without him?"

"I…" She hesitated. She really wasn't sure if she was ready to let him walk out of her life. "He's the one who's walking away."

"I do not believe that is true. Raymond would never walk away from you unless you asked him too."

She'd never heard Dembe talk this much. Apparently when he did speak, his words were powerful. "I don't know what to do anymore." She admitted. "Everything is so jumbled and yet he is always just…right there…just out of reach."

"Because you keep him out of reach." Dembe observed the FBI agent. He had seen how the Agent kept pushing Raymond away.

She threw her hands up in the air, getting frustrated with the conversation. "Fine, blame me." She exclaimed.

"This is not about blame." He paused for a moment. "Are you sure you want him gone for good?" He asked again.

She looked up into the sky as if it held her answers. "No." She finally said. "I don't want him to go."

"Tell him."

"I already did." She hung her head in defeat. "I promised I would no longer use him as my punching bag, yet I did. I keep getting angry at him, because I'm so afraid he will leave me too. So I push and push until I am alone."

Stepping closer to her, Dembe placed his big hand on her shoulder. "Raymond loves you. Don't let him walk away."

TBC...