The first thing that Don noticed as he walked into work was that Keen was nowhere to be found. When he asked Meera and Aram if they had seen her they simply said they had not, Aram adding in that he had barely seen her in days. That put Don slightly on edge as he sat at his own desk because he was sure that if they realized something was up, then Cooper probably had as well.

Don tried to turn his focus to his work, but found his mind wandering back to Liz every few minutes. After the fifth time he failed to keep his focus on work he gave in to the distraction. Instead he started going over a plan for that night. He decided to make it look like he was drinking more than he was, and that he would pretend it was affecting him more than it was, so they would feel obliged, hopefully, to offer up the couch. He had no doubts Liz would, but he didn't know about Tom. He doubted the man wanted other agents sniffing around his house again.

He admitted to himself that at least the dinner would prove to be useful for gathering more information, since Liz wasn't filling him in on things. He would be able to see how the two interacted, and ultimately see how Liz was around the man. He would also be able to see what kind of mistakes and slips Tom made, which could prove useful. Knowing how to read a man was very important in their line of work.

After staring at the papers in front of him for an hour or so, Ressler was startled from his thoughts by a large file being dropped on his desk. He quickly looked up only to see his boss frowning at him. "Agent Ressler, since you spent the last hour blankly staring at your desk, I thought you might like some work to do. I want you to read through this file then go and talk to some witnesses."

Sitting up straighter, and clearing his throat, Ressler obeyed Cooper with a quick, "Yes, sir". Cooper seemed satisfied enough as he turned to leave, but stopped at the sight of Keen walking by. Trying to defuse any possible situation, Ressler added, "Should I go fill Agent Keen in on the case assignment?"

That only backfired as Cooper sent a cool look toward Keen, saying, "No, I think you can handle this one on your own." Don wanted to say something, anything, to defend Liz, but before he could open his mouth again Cooper was already on a war path that led straight to her. He couldn't help the slight wince that escaped him when Cooper addressed Keen.

THE BLACKLIST

Liz jumped slightly when Cooper all but yelled her name, "Agent Keen, how nice of you to finally join us." Before she could say anything he added, "My office, now."

Quietly, and with her head down, she followed Cooper. She knew that this would eventually happen, that her absents would be noticed, she had just hoped it would take longer. She had hoped that Ressler's apparent attempts to help her would work longer in her favor.

Once they were behind the closed door of his office, Cooper wasted no time in getting to the point. "Your behavior as of late is unacceptable, Agent Keen. You can't simply decide when you feel like working. You can't just show up late and leave whenever you feel like it. You have a job to do, Keen, a job you have been neglecting." There was a beat a silence before he asked, "Where have you been when you should have been here, doing your work, instead of having Agent Ressler do it for you?"

Elizabeth felt a pang of guilt at the mention of Ressler but she hadn't asked him to do that. As she looked at Cooper, who was looking at her sternly, she tried to come up with some sort of lie, but a part of her was stopping her. She didn't want to lie to her superior, so in the end she said nothing. She simply stared back. Her eyes were only pulled from the staring contest when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Ressler walked by the window outside the office before knocking.

Growling slightly, Cooper called out, "Come in." As Ressler stepped into the office he sent Liz a sympathetic look, but quickly focused on Cooper informing him that he was leaving to go meet the first witness. Cooper simply nodded before giving him a look that was a clear dismissal. Throwing one more look at Liz Ressler was gone again, leaving the two remaining occupants of the office in another staring contest.

After it became obvious that neither were going to get anywhere, Cooper made up his mind. With a sigh, he looked at Keen and said, "If you won't tell me where you've been, while you should have been here, then I have no choice but to suspend you for a week." When Liz said nothing he told her, "This kind of behavior will not be tolerated in my unit Agent Keen, so when you come back I expect that you will have learned that."

Liz couldn't help the panic she was feeling. If Tom found out she was suspended then he would ask her why, and telling him it was because she was absent would only make him suspicious. It would make him want to know where she had been spending all her time if it wasn't at home or at work.

When she was finally able to pull her thoughts together, all she could manage was a weak, "Yes, sir." After another beat Cooper nodded, dismissing her, and she numbly made her way out of his office.

THE BLACKLIST

By the time that Ressler was walking back into the office he found his nerves very frayed. He had spent the last couple hours talking to a belligerent witness that insisted she knew everything he needed, but in the same breath refused to tell him what she knew. He had finally given up, leaving a card with her, telling her that if she felt like talking for real, that she should call him, because he didn't have any more time to waste.

He was hoping to talk to Liz, but for the second time that day, as he looked around, he couldn't find her. He did find Aram at his desk, however, and asked him if he'd seen Liz. Aram frowned before answering, "Didn't you hear? Agent Keen got suspended for a week. Cooper sent her home hours ago."

Ressler felt his heart drop into his stomach as he asked, "Are you sure?" Aram seemed startled by the reaction Ressler didn't even think to hide before simply nodding that yes, he was sure. Before he could ask Ressler about his reaction, however, he had run off.

Hiding in an empty corner, Ressler took out his phone, quickly calling Red. The phone was picked up on the first ring with a simply, "Donald?"

Not wasting time with preamble, he asked, "Is Liz with you?" Don could practically hear the questioning look on the other end of the phone.

With clear confusion, Red said, "No." His tone became darker as he asked, "Isn't she with you at work, Donald?" Don didn't bother answering. Instead he just hung up.

Dialing another number, Don waited for the phone to pick up. He felt fear creep up his spine when it went to voice mail. "This is Elizabeth Keen. I'm busy at the moment but if you leave your name and number I'll be sure to get back to you." As Donald headed for the exit he couldn't help but worry.