Donald Ressler had lost count of how many times he'd been knocked unconscious in his life. Each time he fell into the quiet blackness, a part of him remained. Aware that he was still there, yet unable to reach anyone. To most it would feel terrifying. To Ressler, it was a sanctuary. An escape from the real world. A place where he could regroup and gather his thoughts, muddled though they usually were. But this time was different. The chloroform that had rendered him unconscious had sapped his brain of memories and images that usually floated around him. This time there was no light to walk toward. No voice to follow back up to consciousness.

He sprang awake. One instant he was in the dark. The next he was awake and shielding his eyes from the bright light of a single bulb suspended above him, gasping out loud. The movement woke up the pain in his stomach as memories came flooding back. They had been on the road. They had been ambushed.

Liz?!

He bolted upright, his head pounding at the sudden movement. Sucking in a few deep breaths, he attempted to clear his foggy head as his eyes adjusted to the light. He was sitting on a hard, narrow bed in a small, dark bricked room. Red was near him, likewise lying on a similar bed. Of Liz and Aram, there was no sign.

"Reddington," he called, but the criminal didn't move.

Dropping his legs over the side of the bed, gasping at the flare of pain that caused in his stomach, he slowly rose to his feet. He stepped over to Red cautiously and leaned down, shaking the man's shoulder.

"Reddington," he called again, and this time Red's head moved slightly. Shaking him again, Red's eyes flickered open then quickly closed. Ressler knew just how he felt. "Just take some deep breaths and you'll feel better," he told him.

Leaving the man's side he looked around the room again. Their two cots were on the first and second walls, forming an L shape. On the third wall sat a table and a small sink, and in the opposite corner was a low wall offering very little privacy to the toilet behind it. He grimaced at the thought of it, with the way his stomach felt right now. And on the fourth wall, a solid metal door.

Trying the door he was not surprised that it was locked. Placing his ear to the cold metal surface for a moment, he listened, holding his breath. No sound reached him from the other side of the door. Leaning back from the door, he pounded on it, then stopped and listened again. Still no sound.

"Donald, you're giving me a headache."

"You already had a headache. It's from the ether," Ressler replied, not looking at Red behind him, before pounding on the door again. "Hey! You out there!" he yelled, hearing nothing from the other side. "Hey!" he yelled again, pounding on it again a third time.

"Damn it." He stepped back and turned to Red, spying a small window set back in the thick brick of the outer wall. Stepping gingerly onto his empty bed, he leaned against cold bricks of the wall to look through the window. His eyes were at ground level as he looked out. They were in a basement of some kind - or a cell. The scene outside was dimly lit in the light of the half moon, but he could make out a grassed area, then a high, dark brick wall encircling the building they were in. And beyond that, thick trees rose behind the brick wall.

"What do you see?"

Ressler turned briefly at Red's voice, then looked back out the window. "Not much. Grass, a wall and trees," he told him. "And no Liz or Aram."

He dropped down to his cot and sat again, grimacing as he did so. Leaning back on the end wall, he stretched his legs out along the length of the cot, not bothering to kick his boots off. Wondering if he still had his phone, he reached into his inside jacket pocket.

"Damn it." Of course it was gone.

Red was watching him and reached into his own pocket. As he produced his small flip phone, Ressler raised his head off the wall from behind him and looked at it warily.

"Why wouldn't they have taken that?"

"It does seem like a strange oversight, I must admit," agreed Red.

"Call Liz," Ressler told him, and then hesitated. "But that's probably what they want us to do, if they're tracking the signal."

Red looked at his small phone. "Oh, they can't track this phone. I have them specially modified so they're untraceable," he told Ressler matter of factly. "However, our captors could be listening in so I suggest we text. Here, you're faster with those thumbs of yours than me," he told Ressler and tossed the phone across to him.

Catching the phone one handed, Ressler immediately opened it up and texted Liz's number.

[Red and I are in a small cell. can see grass, high brick wall, trees on the far side. where are u? are u okay? -Ressler]

Hitting Send, he noted that Red's phone was down to less than 40% battery life. And waiting with baited breath, he let out a sign of relief as he saw the text go through. Score one for technology. His text was on its way to Liz and all he could hope for was that she was still able to receive it. He needed to hear from her.

###

Standing on the beachfront road, Liz reached for her phone. "I need to call Dembe. You call Cooper," she told Aram beside her.

As she dialed the number, willing it to answer she wondered just where he was. It seemed so strange for him not to be with Red. The phone picked up on the other end.

"Elizabeth, is everything okay?" he asked her.

"No. Everything is not okay. Red and Ressler have been taken!" she told him, speaking quickly.

"Where are you?" he asked her, his calm voice steadying her a little.

Stepping to the side of the road, aware they were on a curve and a car could come around at any moment, she stood on the gravel shoulder looking down at their vehicle in the grass. "We're near Rockport, Maine. We got ambushed and they were taken. Aram and I were left behind."

On the other end of the line, she heard him cover the phone and speak briefly to someone. "Elizabeth, I can't get there until late tomorrow. Raymond has insisted I take care of something for him."

She hadn't realized how much she'd been counting on him to come immediately and assist them. "Okay, got it. Get here as soon as you can, Dembe. I don't know where they are, but we're going to keep looking."

Looking over to Aram who was still talking with Cooper, she was slipping her phone back into her pocket when she heard the familiar ding of a text coming in. As she opened it and read it, her face lit up.

"Oh, yes! Aram!" Running over to him, she held up her phone.

He was still talking to Cooper but stopped to read the text she was holding up to him. "Oh! Sir, we just got a text from Agent Ressler! They don't know where they are but for now they're okay!"

As he told Cooper, she began typing her reply to Ressler, unable to keep the relieved smile off her face.

###

Ressler sat on the cot, waiting to see if Liz could reply. As he wiped a light sheen of sweat off his forehead, Red's phone lit up with Liz's return text. He smiled as he read it, then looked across at Red and tossed him the phone.

[So glad you two are okay! We're fine and still at the ambush point. We're talking to Cooper. Dembe will be here tomorrow. We are going to find you!]

Red quickly read her text. "Excellent. So for now we just sit tight, Donald," he said, stowing his phone back in his pocket.

Ressler stood up and shrugged his jacket off, tossing it on the small table near his cot. Rolling up the sleeves of his grey plaid shirt, he stepped over to the door again. "You really think I'm just going to sit tight? Then you don't know me at all, Reddington."

Pounding with his fist on the door again, this time he didn't stop. He wasn't going to stop until someone came. "Hey! You had better get down here!" he yelled. Behind him Red shook his head.

"I do admire your persistence, but really Donald, I don't believe anyone is out there. Trust me, you'd have woken the dead by now."

"Damn it. Someone is out there!" he called back to Reddington, still pounding on the door with his closed fist. But Red was right. They would have come by now, the racket he was making. Reluctantly he stopped and dropped his throbbing hand to his side.

And as he stood by the door listening on the other side again and hearing nothing, a wave of nausea rose in him. Swallowing it down, he stood and closed his eyes, keeping his back to Red. Trying to squash it down, he breathed steady. It didn't help.

"Shit."

Stepping quickly to the semi-private toilet he leaned over and dry retched, clutching his stomach as it lit up with fresh fire. "Oh god…" he panted, doubling over as nothing but bile came up.

"Donald?"

He couldn't answer Red, but gradually the nausea passed and he stood up. Still clutching his belly he walked to his cot and eased himself down.

"What did you eat that's got your system so upset?" Red asked him.

"I don't know. Probably something in England," he replied, leaning back against the back wall of his cot again.

"We ate the same food in England," said Red calmly.

"I know," said Ressler, trying to get more comfortable on the hard cot. "I'll be fine. We just need to get out of here." Leaning his head back on the wall, he closed his eyes and willed his gut to quit complaining.

And across the small room Red tilted his head slightly and looked at the agent with concern.

###

Liz and Aram walked back down the slope to their car. Standing by it, looking to see how far down into the grass it had sunk, they ascertained it probably could be moved back up to the road. Aram climbed into the driver's seat and started it up. As the engine fired the first time, he held his thumb up to Liz, watching from a few feet away. She smiled as he reached down and threw it in reverse.

Slowly, the car pulled back, leaving two trails of flattened grass in its wake. Positioning herself to his side, she walked beside the car, guiding him around small bushes in the moonlight and back up the slope. Slowly, he reversed up the slope. When they reached the road she stepped back up onto it while he waited. It wouldn't pay to reverse and have a car slam into them as it came around the bend. But they had not seen one car. She'd never seen such a deserted road. Making sure it was clear, she waved him forward and he reversed until he was back up on the road. Jogging to the passenger seat she climbed in and turning back the way they had come, Aram drove toward the Inn they had seen.

"Ressler said it has a large brick wall around it. We can ask at the Inn and see if they have any idea where that may be. Surely they can't be far," she said, trying to convince herself of that.

Rounding a curve they saw the Inn further down on their right. Shining like a beacon on the deserted road, her spirits rose a little as they came closer. Pulling in and parking, they exited the car. Opening the trunk, they grabbed their respective overnight bags. Liz felt her stomach clench a little at the sight of Red and Ressler's bags in there, unclaimed and unneeded.

Aram stood beside her and spoke quietly, "We'll find them Liz. Director Cooper will send the HRT tomorrow if we don't."

"We need to have an idea of where they are first or HRT will be searching the entire eastern seaboard."

He didn't reply to her, just looked at her and nodded before they walked up the front steps to the large inn. Entering, they walked through the comfortable lobby and approached the front desk.

"We'd like a couple of rooms, thanks," said Liz tiredly to the clerk.

The woman smiled and reached for two keys. "You're in luck, we still have two ocean side rooms available," she told them as Liz handed her a credit card. Liz was relieved at that, not so much that they'd see the ocean, but they'd have a view of the road if the occupants of the black SUV's decided to come back.

"The restaurant is open till 10pm, if you folks would like to eat," she added as she handed them the keys. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks. Actually, we have some friends we met on the road and they told us they live near here. Big house with a high brick wall around it. Does that ring any bells with you…?" Liz asked the woman.

She thought a moment, shaking her head slowly. "No, can't say it does. Most folks around here wouldn't dream of blocking the view with a wall."

Liz felt her spirits drop and after thanking her, they climbed the stairs to the first floor and each entered their adjacent rooms.

"I'll get my laptop set up, Liz, and we can start looking at map and satellite imagery. We may find it fairly quickly that way," Aram told her as he paused at his doorway.

"Thanks, I'll be in there soon," she said and entered her room. Entering, she closed the door behind her then leaned back heavily on it. "Where are you?" she whispered. "Ress…where are you?"

###

Just as Ressler was reconsidering banging on the door again, tired of sitting around doing nothing, they heard a sound outside. Red turned his head and looked at him as they rose from their cots. Standing, they faced the door as they heard a key rattle in the lock. It almost made Ressler laugh out loud. It sounded just like one of those cliché large jailers key rings from movies.

The door swung inward, and as it did so Ressler instinctively took a half step in front of Red.

"About time someone showed up," Ressler told the first man who entered the room, noting with satisfaction it was the one whose nose he'd broken. "How's that nose doing?"

The man glared at him, but said nothing as a second man entered. They didn't close the door, and peering behind both men, they saw a hallway in the same dark brick as the cell they were in.

"What is this place? Why are you holding us here?" demanded Red.

The men said nothing, as a third man came in with a tray with two covered plates of food and a pitcher of water. Bypassing them he placed it on the table, after moving Ressler's jacket out of the way. He turned to them.

"No knives and forks gentlemen, but you should be able to manage," he told them, then exited behind the two men standing guard over Red and Ressler.

"I thank you for feeding us. However, I must insist we speak with your employer. Please tell him that we are no threat to him. We are the FBI, and friends. He is in danger. The Cabal know where he is," Red told the broken nosed man before him who simply looked at him and said nothing.

"Donald, I swear, these men have perfected the 'strong, silent type' even more so than you, my friend," said Red in frustration, looking at Ressler next to him.

Ressler wasn't listening. Instead he charged at the man in front of him and aimed for his broken nose again, slamming his fist into the man's face. The man staggered back, hollering as fresh blood ran from his broken nose and his eyes streamed with tears. The second man moved, but Ressler was quicker and had slammed his elbow into the man's throat before he could react. He went down, and with both men aside and the doorway standing open in front of them, Red didn't need an invitation.

"Run!" Ressler yelled back at Red, flying through the open doorway.

Unsure which way to go, Ressler chose left and ran down the dark hallway. Other metal doors were at regular intervals down the hallway. More cells. Was anyone else held here, he wondered.

What the hell is this place?

Behind them, footsteps could now be heard. "Run!" he yelled at Red, only to find that Red was passing him.

"Donald, you're running slower than my grandmother. Move!"

It was true. The pain in his gut was slowing him down, and redoubling his efforts he ran a little faster as pain shuddered through his stomach with every pounding stride. They rounded a corner and were faced with a closed door. Red reached it right before him and trying the round handle it held firm as Ressler literally slammed into the door and Red.

"Shit!" he yelled in pain and frustration, trying the handle to no avail before hitting the unforgiving door with his shoulder.

Behind them running footsteps rounded the corner and the two men faced them with weapons drawn. Blood was streaming down the broken nosed man's face, as he faced Ressler.

"Just give me a reason, Fed. Just give me one damn reason, and I will pull this trigger."

Red stepped toward the man. "Look at me. I am Raymond Reddington, and I demand to speak with Conrad Lucas."

The man stood firm, gun on Ressler.

"You should listen to him," said Ressler, panting as he hunched over slightly. "You wouldn't like it when he gets angry."

The other man held his weapon on Red, a large red welt already appearing on his throat where Ressler had hit him. "Get back in your cell."

They still didn't move. Broken nose moved closer and put his gun against Ressler's forehead. As the cold metal touched his head, Ressler looked into the man's eyes. And what he saw made him comply. Cold hatred. The man wanted to pull the trigger.

"Fine. We'll be good little prisoners and go back to our cell," said Ressler leaning back away from the barrel of the gun an inch.

The man stepped aside and shoved Ressler hard in front of him. Pitching forward, he managed to stay on his feet and walked back down the hallway as Red and the two gunmen followed.

Swearing to himself, unable to believe this situation, Ressler stayed silent. Red's words were echoing in his mind. Three times now he had demanded to speak to Conrad Lucas. If they had been captured by his employees, why weren't they being taken to see him? It didn't make sense.

Reaching the open door of their cell, Ressler reluctantly stepped inside. He'd made a move and it hadn't been successful. But there was another direction to turn down the hallway. He'd remember that next time. Red was thrust into the room and the door was slammed behind him. Standing facing the door, they turned to look at each other.

"Perhaps you should have turned right."

With the two guards gone, Ressler gave in to the vicious pain cramping in his stomach. Doubling over, he closed his eyes as he turned to his cot, nodding at Red.

"Yup," he managed, laying on his side with eyes closed, drawing his knees up in an effort to alleviate the pain.

"Donald…I'm not so sure this is food poisoning," said Red, leaning down to look at the agent panting in distress.

"Shut up, Red… just shut up…" and with an effort, Ressler rolled over and turned his back on Red, not wanting to hear it.

###

As Liz knocked on Aram's door, he called her in. His laptop was all set up, and he had the satellite and ground level imagery of their surrounding areas up on the screen. Pulling another chair up for her, she sat beside him. Handing him a Coke from the vending machine, he cracked open the can and together they started on their virtual grid search for a large property nearby with a high brick wall surrounding it.

Aram already had a system going, his logical brain kicking into gear. Moving to each home on the satellite view, he then zoomed in as far as he could go. They'd look and when no wall appeared, he zoomed out again and continued on to the next home toward the west. When he had searched 10 miles from the coast, he moved up and began searching the homes in an eastward direction back to the coast. And in this manner they sat hunched over his laptop, looking at the homes one by one. After an hour, Liz leaned back and stretched her shoulders.

"Is there a quicker way? Look at all those homes…" she said, looking at the zoomed out images.

Aram looked at his laptop as if it would give him the answer. "Wait, does Agent Ressler travel with a laptop? Does he maybe have one in his overnight bag?"

Liz rose to her feet, fishing the keys out of her jeans pocket. "I think so! I'll go check." Heading from the room, she passed the door to her room and sprinted down the stairs. As she passed the desk clerk, she asked if everything was okay.

"Yeah, just forgot something from the car," Liz told her, crossing the lobby to walk outside into the cool night air. Crossing the parking lot to their car, a sound reached her. It was just an owl, hooting in the night air. Perched up in a tree with the moonlight shining behind him, he was silhouetted as he hooted to her. Smiling at the night bird she went to turn back to their car, when the vehicle below the owl caught her eye. It was a black SUV.

Walking slowly toward it, her right hand gripped the butt of her weapon, but she didn't draw it. Slowly she peered in the rear of the SUV. There was the package from the post office. It was the vehicle they had followed. Quickly drawing her weapon now, she tried the rear door. To her surprise it opened. The vehicle was empty and looking closer at the box, she lifted the tape to open it. Not wanting to draw attention, she did not turn on her phone light or use her flash light. Peering into the box, she saw bottles. At least a dozen of them. Picking one up, holding it up to the moonlight and faint light coming off the Inn, she read the label. Colloidal Silver. Red had mentioned to look for it, and here it was. Gallons of the stuff. Replacing it back in the box and resealing the tape as best she could, she slowly closed the tailgate of the SUV.

Making a note of the plate number, she approached the front of the vehicle and carefully opened the passenger door. There was nothing laying in the vehicle that she could see, so she popped open the glove box. A wallet spilled out, and moving her sleeve down to cover her fingers, she carefully opened it.

It was a Federal ID. It was the CIA.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, and quickly placed the ID back in the glove box. Hurriedly closing the passenger door she jogged back over the parking lot and ran back up to the deck of the Inn. Slowing as she entered the lobby, she smiled at the desk clerk, then resisted the urge to run up the stairs.

Reaching Aram's room she knocked and as he let her in she pushed quickly past him. "So he didn't have a laptop in-"

"Aram," she faced him, touching his sleeve, "They're here! The men that ambushed us are here!"

The urgency in her voice startled him, and as the color drained from his face he whispered, "Oh no."

"But they weren't Conrad Lucas's men. They're the CIA – the Cabal." Hurrying to his desk she began to shut his computer down. "We need to go."

Quickly moving to gather his belongings and toss them in his bag, she turned to him. "I'll go grab my gear and be right back in here.

"No. Liz, we're not separating. Stay here and then we'll go together," he told her, and his tone surprised her. He sounded almost confident. Almost brave.

"Good idea," she told him with the smallest hint of a smile and then set about putting up his laptop so they could get out of there. "We'll need to go out the back. I don't want to go past that desk clerk again with fully laden bags. I'm not sure who to trust anymore."

She watched him as he zipped up his bags and stood with her to head to her room next.

"Well, apart from you, Aram," she smiled and his face lit up as he reached past her and opened the door to the empty hallway.

###

Ressler woke slowly, fighting his way back up from a dreamless sleep. He felt warm, sweaty and uncomfortable, but the pain in his gut had settled to a more manageable level. Opening his eyes he found he was still facing the wall on his small, hard bed. Looking at his watch, the hands glowed in the dark. 1:05am. He'd slept for about three hours. Gingerly rolling to his back, grimacing as his stomach burned with pain, he looked over to Red. He appeared to be asleep, but who could tell with a man who slept with one eye open.

With an effort, he rolled to his other side and then sat up on the edge of the bed. One of the plates of food on the table sat mostly empty and discarded. Well, at least one of them had eaten. Slowly rising to his feet, he stood a moment before using the small toilet to empty his bladder. As he turned back into the room, he stepped toward the door just for the sake of it. Turning the metal handle down, he was surprised when it gave.

And shocked when the door opened.

"What the…" Red was looking at him in the darkness, having heard the door open.

"Wait here," Ressler whispered to him and gripping his lower stomach, he entered the hallway. It was empty. Red was now behind him, having ignored his suggestion to wait. Handing Ressler his jacket, he gently pushed him toward the right end of the hallway.

"That way!" Red whispered and together they walked quickly to the end of the hallway. Expecting someone to appear at any second, they stopped at the corner and stole a look around into the next corridor. It was empty. Ressler looked back at Red. This was too easy.

Red knew it too, but motioned with his hand to go. Ressler turned and led them down the next hallway. They were in a basement level, the hallway dark and lined with large bricks just like in their cell. Halfway down the hallway they came to a stone staircase leading upward.

"In for a penny," whispered Red and together then stepped onto the stairs. As Ressler took the first step, he gasped as the muscles complained in his gut. Gritting his teeth as each step lit a fire in his belly, they climbed the steps. As they reached the top, some 12 steps up, Ressler stood panting in the dark leaning against the cold brick wall.

They were in another hallway, and this time they could see faint moonlight shining through sheer translucent drapes on the windows. Ressler stood up from the wall again and nodded to Red. "Okay," he whispered.

Leading Ressler by the elbow, Red turned them down the hallway, looking for a doorway. They didn't find one, but what they did find was a large picture window half open, letting the moonlight in as a gentle breeze moved the sheer drapes.

"It's a trap. Has to be," whispered Ressler, but they took it anyway.

Red climbed through first, then helped Ressler. Grimacing as his stomach clenched in agony, he got through the window and stepped onto the grass, standing hunched over with hands on his knees. Moving away from the house now at a jog, Ressler just concentrated on following Red. Because to do anything else required too much attention. And gripping his stomach, he panted as he kept his eyes on Red's hunched back as they made their way across the compound to the high wall.

Leaning against it in the dark, the bricks cold and damp beneath their palms, they looked back toward the building they had escaped from. It was large and more like a hotel than a house. Or perhaps an old hospital. Run down in parts, the two story building was old and in desperate need of some care and attention. Ivy climbed up areas of the dark brick walls, leading up to an overhanging tiled roof. The windows were dark. There was no sign of life in the building.

They didn't have time to wonder what purpose the building served, or had served. Or if anyone was watching them. Moving along the length of the wall they came to a drive way with the gates open.

"Too easy," Red whispered again.

Ressler all but bumped into Red as he stopped. "Let's go," he panted and followed Red through the gates. Needing to get out of the open they turned to the trees, and after walking briskly through them for a few minutes, Ressler felt his stomach loosening again. He donned his jacket despite how warm he felt, simply tired of carting it around.

Stopping, he clutched the trunk of a small, smooth tree and sunk to his knees. Red stopped and turned back, seeing him drop.

He walked back to Ressler and looked into his flushed sweaty face with concern.

"Donald."

Ressler panted in pain, gripping the tree trunk and didn't look at Red. His stomach let loose again and he leaned over, all but laying on the ground as he vomited bile again.

"Donald, there is something I need to check."

Feeling Red's hand on his shoulder, Ressler opened his eyes and looked up at Red, licking his bottom lip before he answered, "What?"

"Would you let me feel your stomach?"

Ressler looked at him as his breathing steadied a little. "I'm fine. It's just food-"

Red was kneeling now, talking close to him. "You know how Lizzie calls you stubborn? It's not always a good trait. Roll onto your back."

Clutching the tree in the moonlight, Ressler didn't do it because of Red. He did it at the mere mention of Liz. Sliding to the ground and falling back onto the damp grass, he looked up in the trees, seeing the soft glow of the moon. Seeing Liz in his mind. And right now, he'd give anything to have her there with him, selfish as that was.

Liz…

And as Red placed his hands on Ressler's stomach and pressed in, Ressler flinched but held his tongue. Until Red pressed on the lower right side. Pain radiating knife-like across his belly as Red let go, the resulting howl from Ressler telling them both what they didn't want to hear.

Red lightly rested his hand on Ressler's sweating forehead as he looked down at the prone agent.

"Donald, my friend…you have appendicitis."