Sorry for the wait. As usual: Life happens;)

I dont really like this chapter and I consider it a filler, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway;) Next one will be the meeting we all wanna see but also fear:) You know what I am talking about, right?:)

isclaimer: Blacklist is not minre (see Prologue)

Chapter 3

When Red entered the dark house with his gun in front of him, he swallowed hard and felt beats of sweat travelling down his back. He would never get used to that, he thought. Killing dangerous people, sure. Not having a real home, no problem. Running from the law? Fun no end. But this. Entering a dark house, not knowing what to expect at the next corner was for some reason a thing he could get used to at all. It was a thrill, there was no question about that, but it costed him a few years of his life every time he needed to do something like this himself.

"Can you see anyone?" He asked his silent companion, who shook his head.

Reaching the pristine white living room, Red's breath hitched when he saw the chaos. Overturned chairs and the cracked glass table in the middle of the room. Dembe hit the light switch and both men squinted momentarily and then gasped when they saw the blood spattered all over the floor.

"Oh no…." Red breathed, his face paling even further.

"It doesn't have to be hers." Dembe whispered, walking past him and inspecting the rest of the rooms quickly. Red nodded, trying to believe Dembe's suggestion and holstered his gun, while starting his search for clues for what had happened.

Outside…

When Liz saw from her crouched position, only a few meters away from the road that the light went on in the living room, she automatically shrank back into the shadows. They were still there, she cursed inwardly and held Agnes a little bit tighter to her chest.

"Shhhh…" She cooed softly, although the baby hadn't made any noise until now.

She could see shadows in the windows, two different shapes walking from room to room. So there were two of them, Liz thought and cursed silently once again. She was barefoot, in a nightgown and had a baby with her- where was she supposed to go? Liz felt hot tears welling up in her eyes but she swallowed them down, while she sniffed away the fear trying to pull her into a panic attack. Closing her eyes for a second, she saw herself and Tom sitting at a table and planning her fake death. It was supposed to be a quiet death, somewhere far away from everyone who knew her. No matter what Tom said, Liz didn't want Red to see her dead. She was sure he felt something more for her than just obligation and after losing so many people in his life he didn't need to see her corpse. Liz snorted. Feeling more than obligation. Obviously, Red didn't feel enough for her to except Agnes. Her eyes opened and wandered to the window again. The shadows were gone and Liz knew she needed to move.

In the house….

"She isn't here." Dembe told Red, who had moved into the nursery and leaned against the doorframe, staring at the open window.

"I can see that." He murmured, narrowing his eyes.

"Shall I search the rest of the house?"

A pause and then he could see Red shaking his head, not tearing his gaze from the window.

"What time is it, Dembe?

Slightly surprised, Dembe searched his jacket pockets for his phone and read the time on the display.

"Midnight."

Red's eye twitched and his head tilted to the left.

"We assume they were already sleeping, right?"

"Yes." Dembe answered haltingly, not sure what was going on in Red's head.

The man in question started to walk towards the window and pointed at it, looking back at his friend.

"Why would they leave the window open?" he asked calmly.

Dembe walked up to the other man, eyeing the window.

"Maybe it was warm in here."

"This is a new born child." Red explained. "And it is barely 15° outside. Who would leave the window open in a nursery? Especially at night. Liz is too paranoid for that. Hell, Tom is too paranoid for that."

Dembe frowned and leaned out of the window, looking down the wall. His eyes found the hidden ladder immediately and he snorted, showing Red what he had found.

"Clever girl." Dembe breathed, but Red scowled.

"If she is out there with Agnes…How far can she get, assuming she hasn't been prepared to run and hide with a baby?"

"We should search the woods." Dembe finally suggested, still looking out the window.

"We should."

Dembe pulled his head back into the room and watched his friend standing there and not moving.

"What are we waiting for?" he asked, surprised and weary to find out what his friend had to say.

Red's hands balled into fists and opened again, his jaw was clenching and his nostrils flaring as if he was preparing for a fight.

"I don't know if I can look her in the eye and live through it."

In the woods…

Starting to breathe hard, Liz winced when she stepped onto a sharp stone. Agnes was still quiet but Liz could feel her moving around now. It wouldn't be long until the baby would get hungry and call for her milk.

It was so dark around them that Liz had trouble her own feet underneath her, but she tried to orientate herself on the moon, which was high up and thankfully on a cloudless sky. Where she was going? She didn't know. Just away from the house. Away from the fear and the panic. Just far, far away where there was stillness, peacefulness and warmth.

Sadly, she was fully aware that it was a nice but unreachable dream for her, but it did work as a motivation to keep moving as long as she didn't think about the reality that was awaiting her at the end of this dark forest. Because what was waiting there, would be much darker and much more dangerous.

tbc...

I want to thank every single one of you who took the time to review! I swear you guys make me soooooo happy:) THANK YOU