The first time he decided he liked her a little bit will always stick in his mind as a defining moment. He just watched her take down a thug almost twice her size. She should have lost purely based on her fighting skills; they were lack-luster to say the least. Regardless of that major fact, she won and she stated it was purely because the big guy had a few weak ribs and had been unconsciously favoring them. Her abilities far exceeded the ability to tell when someone was lying and he was hard pressed to say that he was impressed by her.
He watched her swipe the small amount of blood that had accumulated at the corner of her mouth and she winced when the paramedic touched the large bruise forming on her shoulder. His eyes were drawn away from her when Keen came up beside him.
"You okay?" She asked as she took in his torn suit and bruised jaw.
"Yeah; I'm fine." He groused out trying to shake her off. While at times they managed a less tense working relationship, he sometimes had the sinking feeling that his only job was to clean up after her; to protect her. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"You look rough big guy." He was shocked a bit when the voice cut through his internal musings. Looking down at her, he noticed she was all patched up and was looking up at him with a mix of amusement and hidden pain. He towered over her by a few inches and was always shocked at how her personality seemed to fill those inches up.
"You too Tennor." Was all he says before he turns and strides to his waiting car and to the cold empty apartment and the re-heated pizza from the other night.
The next day was brutal; his jaw hurt and he had a major headache that borders on a migraine. It only got better when his coffee maker broke down and his favorite shirt had a tear in the shoulder seam. When he finally got to the post office he was immediately assaulted with Katherine Tennor who had been officially hired by the FBI and Director Cooper as a consultant. She of course was sitting in his chair; spinning it around as she twirled her long brown hair around a finger. Her booted feet dragged the chair to a stop once he entered.
"There's the crabby face I love to see every morning!" She exclaimed as he threw her a dirty look. It was as though she was determined to get under his skin and ruin his day; every day.
"What are you doing here?" Ressler asked; annoyance dripping into his words as he sorted through the notes currently sitting on his desk. Standing from his chair, she strode around his desk and came to stop in front of him.
"Red has a new name on the Blacklist for you guys; he's meeting with Keen now and then she'll debrief you all when she gets here. I on the other hand am off to work a case with the big ugly special agent guy who scowls at everything."
"I thought that was how you described me?" Ressler states still not looking at the petite woman in front of him.
"Never said you were ugly." Katherine sing-songed before his head snapped up to meet her laughing eyes. She looked at him then; his red hair perfectly in place and his strong jaw bruised but still handsome. She could feel her face heat up as he stared at her with his cool blue eyes.
"Which agent then?" Ressler's rough voice broke their staring match.
"The bald one." Katherine clears her throat and nods her head at the agent in question. Ressler turns slightly to look where she was indicating.
"Agent Reimer?"
"Uhh; yeah, that guy." Katherine sits on his desk and Ressler has to stop himself from yelling at her.
"What case is that?"
"Don't know, don't care; but I guess he requested my services."
"He's an ass but a decent agent."
"Well that's something you guys have in common then. See ya later crabby pants." Ressler watched her go and took a minute to look at her retreating back. Her long brown hair was shiny and looked soft, her jeans were tight in all the right places and the black tank top showed her assets. He watched her grab her leather jacket and stride up Agent Reimer. Ressler felt his hands curl into fists when he watched Reimer direct her towards the main elevator before walking behind her; obviously staring at her in a sexual way. Ressler knew at that point that she had officially gotten under his skin.