Thank you for the kind and generous reviews for the first chapter. I hope not to disappoint anyone because I have a clear idea where this story is going and it involves a lot more angst.
I wanted to get a bit more of this out before tomorrow's episode but The Blacklist being The Blacklist I don't think the episode will rule out this as a possibility.
This chapter is a bit shorter than the last but it's important to the story. The reasons are touched on here but they will be fully explained later on.
Now is the Time
Chapter 2
Weeks later they are at the Blacksite, no further forward in their search for Red than on day one. Her shame has dulled to a hollow ache, always with her but no longer all consuming. She misses him; his face, his voice, the support he offered her. It cements her suspicions or at least dismisses any lingering doubt about what she feels for him.
They have turned up exactly nothing in their weeks of searching. Donald knows more about Red than anyone, having hunted him all these years but he can't figure it out. They go back over everything looking for a connection; something that links them, explains why he turned himself in and why he's walked away but they can't make the pieces fit.
Weeks turn to months and there is no sight of him, no message, and no sign. It's almost as if none of it happened. Yet Lizzie can't forget; the man he is or his sacrifice or his attention. She's pale and drawn, the strain of the search and the mystery of it all working on her. Cooper finally insists that she uses some vacation time to rest.
It's the time off that leads her to consider a link between Tom and Red. Perhaps the truth behind her husband's assignment will shed some light on Red's disappearance. She calls it into Ressler, who follows it up but days later when he calls her back she almost regrets the idea that led them there.
Again she's in the briefing room, further interrogation and debriefs finally giving Cooper enough confidence to believe she isn't involved or even in the know about all of it.
Her idea about a link between Tom and Red was like a tiny thread of truth. One that when pulled, began to unravel, revealing not just the link between Tom and Red but the link between Red and her biological father. Within hours they had mapped out the bare bones of a history between the two and while there were many unanswered questions, one thing was crystal clear to them; Red only wants Lizzie for one thing... Revenge.
When the truth of the situation was first spoken aloud it silences the room. Disbelief is the only way to describe how Lizzie feels but soon enough she starts to consider it; up till now she's never had a reason for Red's attention and this is one, no matter how horrific.
Cooper reverts to command mode and starts to formulate a plan for her protection. She spends the next hour arguing that the measures are unnecessary because Red could have taken, hurt or killed her at any number of moments. But Cooper is adamant, she'll be in protective custody until Red is apprehended and her safety can be assured. He explains his conviction that their knowledge will force Red's hand; making him expedite his plans.
Before they leave they inject her with a tracking trip, they make it sound precautionary but she knows if Red finds her it will be her only hope. They travel in a black SUV, out of the city, meeting another almost identical car on an empty road, where they disembark, swapping vehicles, before doubling back to ensure they are not followed. There are countless other counter surveillance measures used but Lizzie is too deep in thought to notice or remember them.
Despite her initial calm, her heart is racing now and she can hear the blood pumping in her ears. The early, easy acceptance of her fate being little more than shock, which gives way and allows the fear to settle; as the gravity of the situation takes hold. The man she'd grown to care about, the man she'd grown to love, the man she searched for for months, only wants her, only ever entered her life because he wants to kill her.
Before the panic gets out of control she pushes it down, forces it to the back of her mind and focuses on her surroundings. Shortly after they pull up to a modest country house. They are greeted by a small team of agents, whom Ressler seems to know and trust. All the same he performs his own security sweep before he lets her out of the car.
"We're good here. Just to be sure we won't stay more than a few days but this isn't even listed as an FBI safe house. He won't find us" Donald explains, looking proud that they've out manoeuvred Red, at least for now.
Lizzie smiles back wondering if he really believes it, because she sure as hell doesn't. She knows Red; she's not safe anywhere. He'll have intel, he'll have a mole and for all she knows it's Ressler. It's little wonder Cooper was so paranoid.
"I can't believe the bastard; all that time, all that work" Ressler shakes his head at the memory of the long hours Liz spent with Red.
"What's the old adage? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He played a good game" Lizzie says, her tone dry yet eerily desolate.
"Keen I know you're not as calm as you sound, you've got to be reeling from this. Jesus, we knew he would be playing us, we knew he had to be all along, but this?" Donald says, his face red with anger.
"Sorry to disappoint but I do feel calm. He has no more tricks up his sleeve, no more secrets, no more half truths. There's a certainty to events now" she says.
When Donald just looks puzzled in response so she continues, "Think about this Ressler. Think Anslo Garrick but much much smarter, more resourceful and more determined. Revenge is a powerful motive."
Again Donald just stares.
"He's Raymond Reddington. If he wants me dead then I'm as good as dead." She finally says, explaining how she sees it.
"Not on my watch" Donald says but he can't help feel the truth in her words. He's never met a man so resourceful, so single minded, so capable as Raymond Reddington. It makes him feel something for her; fear and more than a measure of sadness.
They stay at the safe house for two nights. The whole time Ressler remains vigilant, sleeping little, demanding regular updates. Lizzie wanders the rooms, ordinarily being trapped inside this way would have her climbing the walls but there is something about her situation that makes her feel detached and alone.
Over the last 48 hours she's had more than enough time to consider her future, however long it is. Does she want to spend what remains running, hiding? She's been betrayed by Tom and now by a Red, both men she realises she never really knew. And yet, her attachment to Red remains intact, not even the bleakness of her reality can severe her bond with him.
There is no doubt in her mind that the information they gathered and the conclusions they've drawn from it are correct, yet she remembers how readily he offered up his life to save her. There seems no way to reconcile these two realities.
But there seems to be one simple course of action available to her. She goes to Ressler and asks him to extend their stay another night. Sounding as casual as she can and stating his need for rest and her desire to get her bearings before they're thrust onwards. At first Ressler isn't convinced but she gives him space and before long he seeks her out confirming that they will in fact stay one more night.
In the hour before she turns in she sneaks in to Ressler's room, borrowing a razor blade and his small first aid kit. It's not stored in an obvious place so she hopes its absence won't be the thing that tips them off.
Then in her room she makes final preparations, putting on a few extra layers of clothes because she's not certain how long it will be before she finds shelter again. Finally, more out of something to do than anything else, she puts her pillow under the covers to act as her body. It may be an awful cliché but if it buys her even a second longer it might be enough. Taking one last deep breath she switches off the light before gently opening the window and slipping out into the woods.
The first 100 metres she stays low and moves cautiously. She's worried about the sound drawing attention to her escape. Her training and her knowledge of their security arrangements is what helps her slip from their grasp. Beyond the main boundary she tries to keep the sound down but she begins to pick up speed. They've checked on her every few hours of the previous nights so she knows her window of escape is limited and it's important to put as much distance between them as possible.
At a nearby stream she uses the razor to cut her arm and remove the tracking chip. She drops the chip into the water; it is light enough to be carried downstream and again it may buy her time. She uses the first aid kit to clean the wound but there is no time to dress it. She pockets a bandage for later and quickly buries the remaining kit in the undergrowth of an obliging tree.
Moving as fast as she can, while listening for any sound that indicates Ressler and the rest from the protection detail haven't fallen for her ruse, she continues on. When she makes it to the highway she follows it, hugging the tree line for more than an hour until she reaches a secluded truck stop.
She calls information and asks for the only number that will get her where she wants to go. Once connected she leaves her name, and the number of the phone, and waits for Mr Kaplan to call back.
In her adrenaline fuelled reality no time passes before the phone rings.
"We need your location" she's told.
Lizzie explains where she is as best she can.
She retreats to the shadows, sinking further in when she sees a dark sedan sweep in to the truck stop, stopping briefly to survey the area before pulling out at high speed.
Not quite an hour later another car appears, slowly pulling into the car park, stopping but leaving its engine idling. She's in the relative safety of the shadows but then the door opens and she sees Mr Kaplan step out from the car, followed by a few heavily armed guards, she knows it's time to show herself. It's not safety, it's certainly not sanctuary but it's what she's been waiting for.
She silently steps out from the shadows, like the moon slipping from beneath the clouds. And like the moon she is somehow immediately luminous to them despite having no light of her own. This is what it feels like to be wanted, to be hunted.
They step towards her, Mr Kaplan herself is quiet but Lizzie feels her concern. Or maybe it's nothing she feels, every other instinct she had has been wrong.
They don't cuff her, they don't lead her, they don't touch her but she's surrounded and quietly escorted to the car.