Note: T rating remains but there is some strong language. As ever I don't own the blacklist, just test driving the characters!
A week later Lizzie returned to her motel room in the evening after a boring day spent in the office, much as she had the night Red had come to visit her. This time though, her heart felt lighter. She hadn't seen him since that night – he was still recuperating and tending to business that had been neglected in the aftermath of the shooting – but he had called her. Several times, actually. The first time it had been a short call, both perhaps a little unsure of what to say. They hadn't acknowledged anything, and she wasn't sure she was ready to.
But the next time, that was different. It was quite late - she had been in bed staring at the ceiling waiting for sleep that would not come when 'Nick's Pizza' buzzed on her phone screen. Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about him, or the fact that it was late, but different rules seemed to apply. God how they had laughed; how he had made her laugh. She thrilled him with details of her teenage misadventures, throwing in a few titillating references to naïve teenage sexuality which made him grow hard thinking about her losing her innocence.
He delighted her with stories of his and Dembe's travels – "No word of a lie Lizzie!" he had said animatedly. "We went into the back room and there was none other than the commissioner himself struggling to get the bra off before his guards arrived - well it was more of a corset really, you know, all silk straps and hooks – so I told him I would be happy to oblige, having some experience in these matters, but I'd need him to support my choice for governor. Quickest deal I've ever done."
The truth was that the commissioner in question had failed to come through for him when the time came, and had died of a heart attack shortly after. At least that's what the papers said, and what his wife believed. But Lizzie didn't need to know that. All he wanted to hear was her clear, enchanting laugh ringing like a bell in his heart.
When Liz returned to her motel that night, she was relaxed, thinking back on their conversations. She closed the door and threw her bag on the bed. She wondered if he'd call again. Or better yet, perhaps he would visit. As soon as she had the thought she shook her head, shocked at the admission that she wanted to see him.
That wasn't something she could afford to admit to anyone, even herself. Her reverie was broken by a knock at the door. Her heart started beating faster. As she went to open the door it didn't occur to her that it would not be him on the other side. Perhaps that's why she didn't react in time when Tom Keen's arm wrapped around her neck as he entered her room, immobilizing her and closing the door behind him.
She struggled wildly but she had already lost her advantage; he was stronger and therefore her slow reaction time had cost her dearly. "Tom what is this, what are you doing?" she gasped out.
"Settle down Liz" he responded calmly. "It's time we had a discussion about our marriage."
Before she could respond, he had placed a pungent, chemical-smelling cloth over her nose and mouth which pulled her quickly into darkness.
When she woke, she was lying on a sofa with her wrists and ankles secured tightly with cable ties. It was her sofa, she realised, from their old house. Working her way to a sitting position she looked around and saw other familiar things – their dining table, the lamp where he had hidden the key, the cushions she had chosen, photographs of them together. She was in the house they shared for two years. But as her eyes adjusted to the relative gloom, she realized that there was something very wrong with the scene.
The ceiling was too high. Her sitting room rug was there, in the same position as it always was, but there was no carpet. The floor beneath her feet was stone, rough and dusty. She looked behind her. Where the kitchen should be, an empty warehouse stretched out into darkness. Turning to survey the scene she saw that Tom had arranged their bedroom furniture in a corner, complete with alarm clock, matching nightstands and what had been her favourite quilt on the bed. It chilled her to the core.
She heard footsteps echoing in the dark, and Tom appeared a moment later. He flashed her a warm smile and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "Welcome back sleepy head!" Then his expression turned to one of concern. "You know this job is really taking it out of you – I'd like us to talk about getting away for a while. Maybe getting you into a job with more regular hours. Honestly I don't know how we're going to care for a baby with you working like this!"
"A baby?" Liz blinked, attempting to get a handle on the situation. "Tom, I'm sorry I haven't been in touch this week. I just realised that I needed to prioritise my job over my own need for answers. I was being selfish." She saw Tom's face darken as she spoke.
"You're right Liz, you have been selfish." he said in a low voice. "But it's not too late to fix our marriage. I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourself."
"Our marriage?" Her head swam with confusion. What had happened to him? This wasn't the Tom she had been working with last week. And who was he to accuse her of damaging their marriage? He was the fraud! He had ruined everything. Somewhere between anger and panic, she lost her temper.
"How dare you!" she hissed. "Our marriage was a sham, and that's on you Tom. I didn't even need a divorce – I just had it annulled. The law says it didn't mean anything!"
Tom's eyes narrowed and his hands started to shake faintly. When he spoke his voice was so filled with emotion that the Liz of two years ago almost wanted to reach out to comfort him.
"Screw the law. It meant something to me…it meant everything to me. And you betrayed me."
"I betrayed you?" she said in disbelief.
"I stayed faithful to you, your nice loving school teacher husband, while you had a sordid affair with a criminal – scratch that - with one of the most dangerous men in America! Admit it Liz - you let him manipulate you and everyone at the FBI, and then you let him fuck you, you dirty little slut."
"Tom!" She gasped, genuinely shocked. "You're talking about Reddington?" Tom didn't say a word but as she looked up at him from her position on the sofa she saw confirmation in his eyes. "It's not true Tom. I haven't. We haven't - " she was reeling, searching for a way to explain, when Tom's palm collided with her cheek.
The blow knocked her sideways on the sofa and tears sprang to her eyes – tears of both shock and pain. Part of her still couldn't believe her sweet, loving husband could behave like this towards her. Even when the truth had come out, she believed that he had always been himself with her, at least in some ways.
The moment she let out a single sob he sat on the sofa next to her, gently caressing the line of her cheek bone where he had struck her. His voice softened.
"I'm so sorry Liz. Please forgive me – that was inexcusable. The truth is I saw you with him at the motel and...and it just hurts so much" he choked.
She began to whisper "but we didn't - " when he pressed his finger firmly against her lips. "No Liz, no more lies." He cupped her chin with his palm. "Don't worry - you're going to make everything right again tonight."
TBC!