Jeremy Cole held his gun steadily on Reddington as the criminal kneeled on the ground in front of him. Red had been in this position many times, on his knees, hands raised and a gun pointed at him. He'd survived those situations so far, and presumed he would this one.

"What business did my brother Jake have with you? Aside from the passports and transportation," Jeremy Cole asked him.

Red looked calmly at Cole. A few years younger than his twin brothers, he was in his early thirties. While he resembled them remarkably in looks, he differed immensely in presence and attitude. Red could see the leadership in this man.

"I am here to procure safe passage out of the country for you and your brothers. That was always the business I had with Jacob," he said calmly.

"I don't believe you, old man," said Cole, as Red shrugged his head a little at that remark. He wasn't sure he liked being called old either.

In a flash of lightning, Reddington caught another glimpse of Ressler on the ground behind Cole. He had noticed something that Cole apparently hadn't. There was no blood under the FBI agent.

On the floor behind Cole, Ressler lay as still as he could. He was biding his time, and 'playing dead' gave him the advantage he needed. He had been shot, a fact his ribs were screaming out loud and clear, but his vest had taken the impact. Just as he'd known (or hoped) it would when he made the split second decision with Cole shooting at him. Reddington wasn't the only one who could step in front of a bullet to save a ... well, whatever Reddington was, Ressler knew it was his job to keep the man alive. The bullet had impacted the left side of his vest below his heart and he knew that was going to bruise like a son of bitch. He'd certainly felt that before, too many times to count over the years. So he lay still, feeling rather fortunate that Jessie Cole was laying half on top of him because it hid the hitch in his breathing. Having Jessie Cole this close offered the biggest advantage of all though. Ressler's own gun was still stuck in Cole's belt - right in front of him. So he waited for the right moment.

Reddington regarded Cole, and suddenly smiled that charming smile. "You know, I'm really wondering what sort of a man you are Jeremy. Your brother Jacob is lying on the floor dead, your brother Jessie is possibly dead over there, thanks to the bull-in-a-china-shop FBI agent, yet you haven't so much as looked at them."

"My business with my brothers is my business, Reddington," said Cole evenly, and Red continued to look at him, smiling that charming smile he had.

A flash of lightning lit up the room with another loud bang. Ressler's moment had come. He was counting on the next huge clap of thunder and he wasn't disappointed. In that moment, he reached for his gun and flipped the safety off. Completely hidden in the sudden darkness and masked by the sound of the thunder clap, he rose silently in one fluid motion. Ignoring the surge of pain in his ribs, he stood right behind Jeremy Cole, his weapon aimed at his head. The thunderclap ended, and relative silence ensued.

"Don't move Cole. Don't even breathe," he said to Cole, who still had his gun drawn on Red.

Red smiled even more then as he regarded Cole "Here's a tip for you, Jeremy. Never underestimate the 'dead' FBI agent lying on the floor behind you."

Cole's eyes grew cold, and he turned to face Ressler, looking straight down the agent's gun barrel. Completely calm, Cole raised his own weapon and pointed it right at Ressler. They were at an impasse, it seemed. Ressler looked into the eyes of Jeremy Cole as they were lit up by the next lightning flash, and knew he was looking at the brains of this outfit. There was no way 'idiot Jessie' could lead them. But this man could. He knew in that instant that they needed Jeremy Cole alive. But he still wasn't going to lower his weapon while he looked down Cole's gun barrel.

He was looking into Cole's eyes when the man suddenly dropped to his knees, his gun clattering away on the floor. Ressler lunged to the floor, retrieving the gun in one move, his breath catching at the flare of pain in his side. Turning as he crouched on the floor, he aimed both weapons right in Cole's face.

"Don't even think about it," he told the man, hissing through his teeth at the pain in his ribs. "If my gun misses, yours will finish the job nicely, I'm sure."

Ressler's eyes flickered over to Red. He had been largely ignored during their exchange - until he had kicked Cole's legs out from under him.

"Here's another tip for you, Jeremy. Never underestimate the old man on the floor behind you either." said Red, his satisfied grin never leaving his face.

###

Liz looked out the window at their surveillance van, realizing that only having eyes on the cabin was useless. She needed ears. Although, hearing anything over this storm would be challenging, to say the least. There could still be an open mic inside the cabin. She had to try.

She glanced at Dembe, who was calmly standing near her in the shadows, only lit up as each flash of lighting illuminated the building. "Dembe, I need to get over to the van. If there is a chance of hearing what's going on in there, I need to take it. While we have eyes on the cabin right now, it's not doing us any good. We need ears."

Returning her gaze to outside the window, she was barely able to see Red's car or their van through the downpour - but that very downpour would provide the cover she needed.

"I will come with you Agent Keen, and assist you in any way I can," he told her, his smooth voice coming out of the shadows in the darkness.

She smiled to herself, noting again the loyalty and quiet soul of this man. She liked him, and the more time she spent with him, the more she trusted him. But she didn't need him to go out to the van with her.

"No, I would like you to go back to the other building, and keep an eye on our sleeping friend. I don't know who he is, or what he's here for, but I don't like it." And if she hadn't been trying to maintain a low profile, she'd have already established that. This sneaking around was bothering her now. It was time to get out in the open and make a difference.

"Then let's roll," she said, suddenly thinking of Ressler in that moment. She'd heard him say that at times - and would give anything to hear him say that right now, she thought ruefully.

As they opened the door to the building and stepped back into the rain, she immediately felt the weight of it pummel her again. It had rained hard like this for hours. Surely it would let up soon! The rain stinging her face, she looked at Dembe for a moment. He nodded to her, his eyes squinting against the sting of the rain, before he turned and sprinted toward the larger building. Turning her attention to their van, she positioned herself so the van lay between her and the cabin, and began her run toward it. The ground was saturated. So much rain had fallen that the grass was soft and spongy under her feet, leaving impressions in the ground as she ran. It was like running in quicksand. She involuntarily ducked every time the lightning flashed, leaving her starkly visible under it. Reaching the van, she leaned against it for a moment, looking back at the buildings. She couldn't see Dembe any more, but assumed he was inside the larger building by now.

She tried the drivers' door, and said a silent thank you to Ressler for not automatically locking it. She opened it quickly and slipped inside, aware of the interior light that felt startlingly bright when the door was opened. She took a quick look at the dash clock. Was it really only 3:12pm in the afternoon? It felt like hours since Red had arrived at the cabin just before 2:00pm! Opening the door to the rear of the van, she crawled through and quickly closed it behind her. The monitors were still on, and amazingly, the little camera on the rear of the van was still sending back images. Sitting on one of the chairs, she put the headphones on her soaking wet head, and listened.

And heard nothing.

She moved the dial slowly now, trying to pick up a signal, and was greeted with silence. Not even static, which would have been something. The line on the other end was completely dead. She slumped in the chair. Okay, she thought, time for Plan B. Or was it Plan C? She'd lost track. She dropped the headphones down, glanced quickly at the empty chair Ressler had been sitting in, and left the rear of the van. Cautiously looking out of the opening to make sure it was all clear, she made her way through the small door to the cab again. She waited for the next flash of lightning to help mask the cab light, her hand on the drivers' door. The lightning flashed and she opened the door, timing it perfectly. The less chance of her being seen the better.

Taking cover behind the van she looked toward the cabin again. It was impossible to see in through the windows, and she was going to need to get up on that porch. As she stepped away from the drivers' door, she heard another loud clap of thunder, and an additional sound near her ear. The drivers' window suddenly shattered, spraying glass fragments everywhere, hitting her. Her hand flying to her cheek, she ducked, realizing that was a rifle shot that had just pierced the window! The sound of it had been hidden in the thunderclap! She ran then, taking cover on the other side of the van as a second shot rang out. It hit the front of the van, shattering one of the headlights. Reaching the passenger side of the van now, she crouched down, weapon drawn. It had to be the sleeping man who was firing!

She was now between a rock and a hard place. Pinned down as someone fired at her from the outer buildings, and at risk of being seen by whoever had shot Red inside the cabin.

###

"Give that to me," said Red, holding out his right hand, indicating Cole's weapon in Ressler's left hand.

Ressler's eyes never left Jeremy Cole. He ignored Red's request, instead needing the man to do something for him.

"Get my cuff keys from Jessie's pocket. I think our friend Jeremy here could use my cuffs more than me," he said evenly, as Cole looked calmly at him.

"An FBI agent who can't get out of his own cuffs? I obviously don't have much to worry about," he said, and looked away, feigning disinterest.

Red got to his feet and walked over to Jessie. Searching the unconscious man, he came up with a pocket knife, which he deftly slipped unseen into his own pocket, before turning around and holding up the keys to Ressler.

Ressler watched Red unlocking his cuffs as he kept the two weapons trained on Cole. What's wrong with this picture, he thought, watching Number 4 working with him, on his side of the fence... his ally... It had been almost a year, yet part of his mind just couldn't accept it. Yet this man had saved his life. Raymond Reddington, he thought...the bane of my life...my greatest enemy...and yet...he has given me things, and done things for me that I couldn't have done on my own.

As his cuffs fell away, Ressler made one of those decisions in life that he hoped wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass.

He handed Cole's loaded gun to Red.

He glanced at Red silently, who returned the look, an unreadable expression on his face. He sees the irony in this too, thought Ressler.

Red quickly turned Cole's own weapon on him, aiming it at the man's head, as Ressler leaned down and held Jeremy's arms behind his back now, cuffing him securely. Jeremy regarded both of them, his voice level.

"You won't get away with this, you know."

"Save your threats, Cole," said Ressler from behind him, looking over toward Jessie. He needed to secure him too before he woke up. He approached the unconscious man and checked his pulse, which was weak, but steady. He now checked Jacob Cole (who Ressler had dubbed 'the forgotten one') and confirmed he was indeed dead. He undid Jacob Cole's belt then, and slipped the belt off the dead man. He wasn't going to need it anymore. Kneeling down, again ignoring the stab of pain in his ribs, he pulled Jessie's arms behind him, and secured him tightly with the belt. It would hold for a while, until he could get Liz's cuffs on him. Liz... they needed to find her.

Standing up, he suddenly found the scene before him rather bizarre as it was illuminated in the lightning. There were Cole brothers everywhere on the floor. Dead Jacob. Unconscious Jessie. Handcuffed Jeremy. And Raymond Reddington holding a gun on one of them. Yeah, life sure had changed.

"We need to get out of here and off this mountain." he told Reddington. He then looked dubiously out the window as lighting flashed, illuminating the downpour outside. "And find Liz..." he added, unable to hide his worry as another clap of thunder rolled overhead.

Red nodded to him at that. "And Dembe, too," he added quietly.

"Well Jeremy, it appears we're going on a road trip," Red told Cole pleasantly, as Ressler pulled the man roughly to his feet.

He then stepped over to Jessie, and leaning down picked up the unconscious man and hauled him up, laying him over his shoulders fireman style. His ribs screaming in pain, he gasped as he eased up to a standing position again, Jessie Cole now slung over his shoulders.

"Let's roll," he said, trying to hide the pain.

They made a strange trio. Jeremy in front with his hands cuffed. Reddington was following, blood dripping down his left arm as he held Cole's gun to the man's head. Ressler was right behind him, carrying Jessie on his shoulders. He was trying to ignore the pain that was raging across his left side under the added weight of the unconscious man. He wasn't doing a stellar job of it.

"Try anything and you're a dead man, Jeremy." Ressler warned as they stepped onto the porch. They stood on the relatively dry porch, and in the next flash of lightning they all saw someone in the rain crouched behind the van, motioning wildly to them to get back inside.

Liz!

A rifle shot pierced the air, and wood splintered near Red's head as the door frame exploded under the bullet. Ressler dropped to the ground, dumping Jessie unceremoniously as he went for his sidearm.

"Get back inside!" he ordered Cole, both Red and Ressler holding him at gunpoint now. Cole stood there calmly looking at both of them. Ressler was beginning to find the man downright weird, with his calmness.

"Now! Inside!" Ressler yelled at him, trying to shove the man back through the doorway. Another shot rang out, and Jeremy Cole went down, crying out as blood spread quickly over the right side of his head. He lay still on the ground. They didn't know if he was alive or dead.

"Get in!" yelled Ressler over another thunderclap as he motioned for Red to get inside.

Ressler quickly dragged Jeremy back inside with him as another shot rang out. Hearing the bullet whiz by his ear as it landed in the heavy wood of the cabin, he didn't want to think how close that one had been. He got Jeremy inside and dumped the unconscious man on the ground. Cole's head was bleeding profusely. Ressler turned to go back outside to drag Jessie back in - and get to Liz.

"There is a man with a high powered rifle out there. Don't go out there," said Red, putting his arm out to stop Ressler.

"And Liz is out there too!" shouted Ressler, glaring at Reddington, shrugging the mans hand off his arm.

"I didn't say you shouldn't go outside. I said you shouldn't go out there," said Red calmly, indicating the front door.

Ressler stopped, knowing Red was right. He slammed the door shut then, not knowing how much protection that would afford. As if in answer another shot hit the window, shattering it, the bullet landing in a couch on the opposite side of the room. Rain immediately poured into the room, soaking the floor where they had been sitting against the wall earlier.

"Let's go," said Ressler, looking toward the back of the house. Even the damn storm is inside the house now, he thought.

Between them they dragged Jeremy toward the kitchen at the rear of the house. Hauling him up onto the bare kitchen table, they each grunted under his weight as their own injuries complained. Ressler shone his small flashlight on the man's head, as they both leaned down and looked at the wound. The bullet had sliced cleanly along the side of his head, from front to back. It was clean though, not the mess either of them were expecting to see. Amazingly, Jeremy Cole had been shot in the head with a high powered rifle, yet it had missed his brain. It had literally scraped the skin and hair off his skull. He was going to have one hell of a headache when he woke up. And one ugly scar, Ressler thought, the image of Anslo Garrick suddenly springing to mind.

"He'll be fine," said Red, straightening up. "It looks a whole lot worse than it is."

Ressler looked at him, then worriedly toward the window as another flash of lightning lit up the room.

"Go. Find her," said Red and they nodded to each other as Ressler turned and ran out the back door with his weapon drawn.

###

Liz was soaked through, still crouched behind the van and contemplating her next move. The water ran in rivers under her feet, washing gravel from the driveway into the sodden grass as it flowed under her. There was nowhere to stand to get out of the water. Everything was flooded. She was trying to figure out two things. How there could be flood on TOP of a mountain when water runs downward, which should take it away from the top, right? She was also trying to remember if the van keys were in the ignition. She was irritated with herself that she hadn't even taken time to check that. She tried to look in the cab, waiting for a bullet to hit her, but it was too dark. Finally managing to look in as lighting flashed, she saw the empty ignition. No keys.

Time for Plan D. Or was it Plan E by now?

Her attention was drawn to the cabin door as it opened, and out stepped a man in cuffs. Jacob Cole? And Reddington - holding a gun on the first man! And there came Ressler, with a guy flung over his shoulders! Relief filled her, but only for a moment.

They were sitting ducks in the line of fire!

Lightning flashed and she gestured to them, trying to tell them to get back inside. She was too late and a shot rang out, piercing the door frame. She watched helplessly as their prisoner went down with another shot.

"No!" she yelled, moving from where she was at, but taking cover as another shot rang out. They were back inside now though. Apart from the dude Ressler had been carrying, she noticed.

This is crazy, she thought. I can't move from here! Another shot hit the cabin, shattering the front window. Rain poured into the room as she watched. Had it really just been this morning they were parked outside the gas station in clear blue skies before heading up this mountain? It felt like it had been raining forever. She didn't think she would ever feel dry again.

She turned her attention back to the out building, again trying to pinpoint where the shots had been coming from, when lighting lit up something that caused her to drop down quickly.

Someone was walking toward the cabin.

Moving to the back of the van, she inched her way around, weapon drawn, and continued to watch. In the next lightning flash she saw the person again.

They had their arms up, fingers laced on their head. The position you put a prisoner in. She couldn't make out who it was. There were two of them she saw now, walking across from the building to the cabin. Lightning flashed again, and she stood up in sheer relief when she finally made out what she was seeing.

Dembe! Liz felt like dancing in the rain with relief.

Dembe was walking behind the man, aiming the sniper rifle at his back. Dembe, that trustful, silent soul had overpowered the man who had been shooting at them.

She came out from behind the van, weapon drawn and approached the two men in the pouring rain. They stopped half way between the buildings and the cabin, rain hitting them hard.

Thunder rolled again, and Liz didn't hear what the man said. Looking at him though, she could see he'd been in quite a fight. Dembe had too, she saw, with a nasty welt under his left eye. She turned back to the man then, pulling his arms down and cuffing him tightly, hands behind his back. She motioned toward the cabin now, and together they led the man in the rain, sloshing through rivers of mud.

###

Ressler ran out the back door and down the back steps, feeling the full brunt of the storm on him again. It was oppressive, almost claustrophobic. How had Liz handled it out in this for so long?

There was no porch out the back of the house, just a small grassed area that led into the surrounding trees. Leaving the relative safety of the house, he ran for the trees. They would afford some cover, at least. Like Liz, he was also well aware of the danger of trees and lightning. In stark evidence of that fact, there were shattered trees dotted throughout the forest, having taken direct hits from the lightning. He couldn't think about that now. The thought of Liz pinned down by the van with a sniper out there was uppermost in his mind.

The wet ground sucked at his feet, making running much harder. Like one of those athletes training on the beach, running in the sand, he suddenly thought. The beach…sun and sand. That seemed impossible right now, in this rain sodden landscape. Focus! He told himself.

Darting from one tree to the next, he made his way to the side of the house now, able to see the outer buildings. A tree crashed down somewhere off to his left, but he couldn't see it. He stood behind a larger tree now, almost in line with the front of the house. He should be able to see Liz soon.

Another lightning strike lit up the sky as he scrambled to the next tree. Momentarily blinded, he lost his footing and slammed heavily into the tree trunk. His bruised ribs complained loudly at that as he held onto the tree, grimacing in pain and trying to catch his breath. His ribs felt worse now as the swelling had increased under the vest. It was best to keep the vest tight, supporting them though. Or so he'd heard.

Move! He scolded himself. He was taking too long.

With an effort, he pushed himself away from the tree and was finally level with the front of the house. Crouching down behind the next fairly large tree, he looked out into the sheets of rain. He could see the van now, along with Red's car parked in front of it.

But he couldn't see Liz.

He straightened, looking for her. She wasn't at the van anymore. He didn't know if he should feel relief or dread at that prospect. His eyes searched around the van, and near the house, finding it infuriating to have to wait for each lightning strike to be able to see well enough. He was scanning the porch carefully as the sky lit up again, when he realized something else. Liz wasn't the only one missing.

Jessie Cole was no longer lying on the porch.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang near him, so close he literally felt his skin crawl with the electricity in the air. Lightning hit the tree right behind him – the very tree he had been leaning on a minute earlier, he realized sickeningly.

Run! He screamed inwardly, but he was too late. A large tree branch was coming toward him, exploding from the tree. He ducked for cover, but the tree limb struck him heavily on his back, knocking him off his feet. He was pinned under it, and it had knocked the wind right out of him. Gasping for air on the soaked ground, his face inches from a river of water running on the ground, he tried to suck in a breath. His lungs had stopped working. Breathe! He screamed at himself. His lungs suddenly expanded and he inhaled gulps of rain filled air. He'd only thought his ribs were hurting before. Now they screamed relentlessly at him with the weight of the tree limb across his back.

He couldn't find his gun. He had dropped it when the branch hit him, and now he searched frantically as he lay face down on the flooded ground, unable to rise to his feet. He spotted something out the corner of his eye in the next lightning flash. He looked up as the sky lit up brightly.

Right into the eyes of Jessie Cole.

"This what you're lookin' for, FBI man?" Ressler saw clearly now that Jessie had his gun aimed at him.

"Say 'Goodnight Jessie' FBI man, because you're fixin' to take a nap. A permanent nap!" he laughed at his own joke then, waving Ressler's gun right in his face.

Ressler couldn't move. He was looking right down his own gun barrel as he struggled on the flooded ground. You've got to be kidding me! I'm going to be killed by Festus.

A shot rang out.

Ressler closed his eyes, wondering how long it would take to die. There were a lot of things he had never got to do, he mused. But hey, at least I'll be with Audrey, he reflected. Wait, were you supposed to still feel pain when you were dead? He slowly realized he wasn't dead yet and opened his eyes cautiously.

And saw Liz standing over Jessie Cole's body, her gun still drawn.

Ressler's eyes focused on her as he looked up into the rain, and he didn't think he'd ever seen a more welcome sight.

Looking at the dead man in front of him, he breathlessly answered the man "Goodnight Jessie" before the pain in his back and ribs overwhelmed him and he dropped his head to the ground.