Don breathed heavily as he stared up at Tom. He was trying to gauge what the other man would do next from his position on the floor. He was leaning on one elbow with both arms going out to the side, trying to cover as much of Elizabeth as possible.

After half of minute of Tom glaring down at him, Don finally managed a breathless, "Tom. Think about what you are doing here." He tried to calm his thoughts as he tried to calm the other man. "You don't need to do this."

Tom let out a near hysteric laugh as he waved the gun a little, saying, "Really, Agent Ressler? You're going with, 'you don't need to do this.' I thought all that fancy FBI training would have taught you something a little better than that." There was a tense moment of silence before he continued, asking, "So, what am I doing here, Agent Ressler?" He smirked and glared down at him as he added, "Or should I call you Don? That's what Liz calls you, isn't it?"

There was a moment of doubt in Don's mind as he saw jealousy flash across Tom's face. The man was talking like a cheated spouse, not whatever the hell he was, but he could also see the cold and ruthless part of Tom. He could see the part that was hired to get close to Elizabeth for some horrible unknown reason that had to do with Reddington.

Waving his gun again, Tom motioned impatiently for him to answer the question, but he had no clue what to say. Instead, he told Tom what he was doing there. "I can tell you what I'm doing here." He all but growled as he said, "I'm protecting Liz from her husband, and as long as I'm still breathing, you won't be hurting her."

Tom let out the same ugly, near hysteric, laugh as he said, "Oh, trust me. That won't be an issue. I wasn't planning on leaving you breathing any more than her." Tom bent down, leveling his glare with Don's, as he bit out, "She was a job. Marriage was a means to keep watch on her, but the funny thing is, even though it was fake, I still really hate that she cheated on me." He sneered as he added, "And with you of all people." He stood up again, wildly flailing the gun as he said, "I was the perfect husband. I was everything she wanted. Any problems in our marriage, I made her think were her fault." He brought the gun back down to be aimed at him as he hissed out, "Yet she still goddamn cheated."

Don honestly had no idea why Tom seemed to think Liz had cheated on him, but as he felt Liz started to stir behind him, he decided it was his best bet to keep Tom distracted from her. Shifting his weight to try and better block her, he bit back, "Maybe it was because you made her feel like she was the problem." The rage that his words sparked in the other man had him flinching back a little. It was becoming obvious that Tom had some kind of twisted possessive feelings about Liz.

THE BLACKLIST

The first thing Liz became aware of was yelling and angrily hissed words. She couldn't make them out, but she could tell who the two people were; Tom and Donald. She shifted her head, trying to open her eyes when the words being spoken started making sense.

Tom was yelling, "So you did sleep with my wife!" Liz stiffened slightly at the words. Her head was killing her and she didn't like that she was lost in the conversation.

She was a little surprised when Don half laughed out, "Is it really a surprise that she would go running to a real man? That she would come running to me?" Liz felt a confused frown on her face as she tried to make sense of what Don was trying to achieve. Even though she had yet to open her eyes, she absently realized Don was hovering over her.

Liz could feel the intensity in the air as Tom gritted out, "At least I was able to keep Liz alive." She could hear Don's breath hitch painfully above her. She suddenly regretted every word she had ever said to Tom, every time she had talked to him about her life. She regretted telling him about Donald and Audrey. She had provided Tom with the only weakness she knew Don had.

The sound of a cocking gun made her flinch, and she finally opened her eyes. She could now see that Don was between her and Tom, shielding her from him. She could also see that Don was holding his left leg at an odd angle. It didn't take long to realize it was hurt. She tried to shift to see Tom but Don moved every time she did.

Liz stopped trying to look past Don when he started to speak, low and calm, like someone would a cornered wild animal. "Stop and think Tom. You've been under cover for two years and you haven't hurt her yet." Liz furrowed her brow as she wondered how he knew that before she was listening to him speak again, "Something tells me you aren't supposed to hurt her." She heard him swallow thickly before saying, "I think it's the opposite. You're supposed to keep her safe, aren't you, because she the only leverage you and whoever you work for has over Reddington?"

Before Liz knew what was happening Don was turning over and wrapping her in his arms, pressing her as close to him as possible while Tom said, "Well, order's change."

The sound of a gun shot rang loudly through the living room.

THE BLACKLIST

Don waited for the pain. This ears were still ringing from the shot that went off, but he didn't feel the pain. After what felt like hours, but was only seconds, he raised his head up enough to look at the room, and he felt Liz doing the same thing under him.

They were both surprised to see Red with unbridled rage clear across his face as he stood over Tom, who was now writhing in pain on the ground, holding his knee. They were both unsettled by the intensity on the older man's face. They were used to seeing him always cool and in control, but he was anything but in that moment.

Red squatted down next to Tom, shoving the barrel of his gun to the man's temple, before fiercely growling out between clenched teeth, "Nobody and I mean nobody, gets away with trying to harm my daughter!" As Red's finger pulled down on the trigger three people flinched at the click of the gun. Gaining back some of his calm, Red added, "Luckily for you my Lizzy doesn't condone murder, so I'll let her decide what we do with you." However, that didn't stop Red from delivering a fierce kick to Tom's stomach as he stood back up.

One more chapter after this.