Title: Beyond Borders
Chapter 5 – Upping the Stakes

A/N: I am so missing our amazing show but I hope you are all still liking this story and sticking with it and are happy for an update. For those that left – sorry! to the rest please enjoy!

For a split second Ressler's world stops and his breath literally catches. His right hand automatically lifts to his chest to feel if his phone, perhaps a call from Liz, had ultimately sealed his fate.

"What?"

"Where is my picture?"

"I need a body in order to send your bloody picture!" The man hisses as Ressler presses his ear against the door and listens to the men on the other side; the men hired to kill him. He hears footsteps and can only assume the leader sent the two ahead to continue their search for him.

"Is Oslo in town yet? McBeth we had a deal…I will deliver Agent Ressler to y…"

"You have twenty-four hours. You get me a picture of his dead body or I'll send him to give me yours. That is our deal! Understand!"

"Yes…sir," the man growls as he hangs up and then stops to listen; Ressler's heart starting to beat so loudly he fears his own anxiety will literally seal his fate. But a few seconds later the head thug takes off to rejoin the rest of his hunting party. Ressler remains in place…silent and still until he dares to move, pulling his phone and then wanting to call Liz and give her an update.

"Great," Ressler groans as he looks at the dead phone in his hand before shoving it back into his pocket and then hurrying for the dirty window. He peers through one of the slats, not wanting to make any movement and draw attention to his position just in case someone was stationed outside to watch the building.

Nothing.

Ressler opens the door and carefully makes his way into the quiet hallway, his eyes darting to the left; the direction where McBeth's thugs would have gone and then heads back to the right, hoping that they weren't smart enough to figure out he'd backtrack.

But just as he steps back into the quiet stairwell, his head snaps to the left as a solid punch is thrown to his jaw.

"I got him!" The thug yells into his phone as Ressler's elbow lands in his stomach, his body pivoting to the right as his fists grab the man's suit jacket and literally flings him down the stairs. He races back up, his lungs starting to gently heave and his mind racing. He reaches the top and then spies another building close by. Please God…let this work, he offers a brief but silent prayer as he races toward the other rooftop, hurling himself through the air and landing on the soft gravel platform with a roll; his body grunting as it lands, rolls and then struggles to get back up.

GET UP! MOVE NOW! Ressler's brain yells as he slightly stumbles to his knees but gets back up and rounds the corner to the roof entrance and out of view just as the other two men who had been pursuing him earlier emerge onto the roof and look around.

"HE'S BACK ON THE STREET!" He hears them yell.

Ressler waits for a few minutes before he ducks into the stairwell and then waits and listens. Silence. He hurries down the stairwell and emerges onto the main floor and stops to listen once more. He spies the caretaker's office and hurries toward it.

"Yes can I help you?"

"FBI Agen…" he starts and then stops as the caretaker offers him a bewildered expression. "I just need to use your phone."

The man fishes around in his pocket until he pulls a quarter and hands it to Ressler. "Down the hall."

"Thanks," Ressler lightly grumbles as he takes the quarter and hurries to the left, muttering to himself about no one helping strangers anymore.

"Don? What's going on? I've been trying to call you for the last twenty minutes," Liz's voice states in panic.

"McBeth tried to make new friends. Look my phone is dead and I need a ride t…"

"I'm almost there. 56th and Jay right?"

"How'd y…"

"I'm a paranoid wife…I had your phone traced to the last position just before the battery died," she lightly quips; Ressler's face offering a strained smile in spite of his circumstances. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing a hot bath wouldn't fix. Just don't repeat that to anyone or else," he hangs up, the small smirk from his lips fading as he hears shuffling behind him and turns to see an older woman looking at him in wonder before she disappears into her suit and quickly locks the door.

He heads for the front entrance and waits, his eyes trying to do a once over of his appearance and then wondering what shape his shoulder was in after the fresh stitching was put in place only to be attacked about half hour later. At least he had taken the Tetanus shot, that would help clear up any infection but it feels like the fighting did break the skin somewhat and that would delay the actual healing of the skin.

"Great," Ressler mutters as he watches the black SUV come to a sudden halt just outside the door. He hurries toward it and get inside; giving Liz a smile of relief and gratitude.

"You okay?"

"I am now."

"Hell of a fight?" Liz quips as she pulls into traffic and heads for home.

"You shoulda seen the other three," Ressler retorts with a small wince. "Find anything interesting at the library?"

"Actually…" Liz pauses as she pulls the book from the console beside her right arm and hands it to him. "I did."

"The Lost Son by Roger E Stanton? And this…he wrote this? No wait…"

"That's right our Stanton's middle name is Milton. Read the premise," she directs as she calls Cooper and tells him they're on their way home to meet with the Immigration people.

"Wait…we still have that meeting?" Ressler looks at her in shock. "I thought…"

"He hasn't broken through yet."

"Figures," Ressler huffs as he looks out the window, the book resting on his lap. He looks back up to see Liz's jaw set and frowns. "I'm glad my wife is paranoid," he adds lightly, hating to seem ungrateful while he literally waits for Red Reddington to reward him with his personal freedom. Her jaw loosens and he feels himself breathe an inner sigh of relief.

"I see she has reason," Liz tosses back. "When the line went dead and I couldn't get you back I feared the worst."

"And now McBeth has to report back to Stanton that he failed once more and…wait a sec…" Ressler's voice trails off.

"What?"

"I heard him mention the name Oslo."

"Oslo? Who's that?" Liz asks in haste.

"Not sure, but the guy who was on the phone with McBeth sounded scared of this guy. Real scared."

"So Stanton hires McBeth…McBeth hires whoever was chasing you and if that fails then Stanton calls in someone named Oslo to take him and McBeth out. Sure he was scared, McBeth knows if he fails, he's toast. He tries to get someone else to do his dirty work so he can go to Stanton the hero but if he fails…McBeth is dead and Stanton carries on…from prison. Damn we need…"

"I hate to say this but…"

"Call Red?" Liz concludes as Ressler grits his teeth and offers a begrudging nod.

"Wait," Ressler tells her with a small huff. Despite his phone still plugged into the SUV's charger, Ressler picks it up and dials Cooper.

"Oslo? Any other name?"

"No. But if you run a cross check with either Stanton or McBeth you should find…something. Let me know."

"Okay so what do you think of the book's premise?"

"So according to this he has a…LIZ LOOK OUT!" Ressler shouts just as their SUV is rammed from behind. They had turned off onto a quieter road but one that had a few construction sites and with the rain the sides were slippery, muddy and hard to ensure the SUV kept full control if suddenly forced off course.

The SUV jerks, forcing both occupants to be jarred to the left as the SUV is hit on the back right; Liz's hands frantically trying to compensate for the out of control SUV. She manages to get it back on track, Ressler's hands resting on her hip and then slowly reaching across her chest.

"I want your gun," Ressler lightly growls as she looks at him for a few seconds; his hand pausing on her side before venturing further. He pulls the gun just as the SUV jerks once more, this time to the left.

"Call for…" Liz calls out just as the SUV slides through a watery puddle; the tires skidding and forcing the speeding vehicle to swerve and both occupants to hold their breath for a few seconds. "Backup!"

Ressler rolls down the window and prepares to fire off a shot when another SUV barrels toward them.

"DON!" Liz shouts as the other SUV slams into the front left drivers side of the hood, forcing their SUV to jerk hard to the right and Ressler's grasp on the gun to be nearly lost.

"We need to get…off this road," Ressler grunts as he tries to fire off a shot; the SUV bouncing over a dirt mound and forcing his bullet to miss the mark by meters.

"Where's my backup!"

"I'm too busy shooting!" Ressler tosses back just as the back windshield explodes from a successful bullet. Both of them duck as best they can but another shot takes out the back rear tire and the SUV starts to weave in directions Liz doesn't want it to go.

Another shot blows out the small window on the front driver's side, forcing Liz to utter a small scream and Ressler to look over in haste.

"We need…"

*bang*

Another tire blows and it's only seconds before Ressler tries to pull Liz toward him as the SUV races toward a tree and then finally slams into it; forcing both airbags to deploy, their bodies to jerk forward into the soft balloon and then slam back into the seats.

"Liz…" Ressler's weary groan asks as he quickly opens his eyes and looks over at his partner.

"They're…coming," she utters with her own tormented gasp as they hear angry shouting heading their way. She tries to reach for her phone when the front driver's side door opens and two strong hands start to pull her out of the driver's seat.

"HEY!" Ressler shouts as he quickly raises the gun and fires off a shot point blank – taking out the first attacker within seconds. But before he can fire off another shot to take out the second advancing attacker, his door is pulled open and two sets of hands are trying to wrestle him out of the front passenger seat.

Four men sent, one down…three still in the game.

"McBeth wants to see you Agent Ressler!" One of the thugs growls as he tries to pry the gun from Ressler's hand.

"Like…hell," he growls in anger as he knees one in the groin and then tries to punch another in the jaw with his elbow. One of them lands a punch to his stomach, forcing his lips to gasp and his attackers to finally get him out of the busted up SUV.

Meanwhile, Liz was tangling with her own attacker and follows Ressler's suit by kicking her lone attacker in the groin and forcing him to stumble backward; another kick to his face by her boot and his stance to falter. She takes advantage of the fact that he's distracted by his own troubles and tries to push past and get around the front of the SUV to help Ressler.

But the man who attacked her isn't quite down for the count, grabs her jacket from behind and gives it a good yank backward, forcing her to stumble and trip, falling to her knees in the wet mud. Uttering a small groan about wrecking a new suit, Liz twists on her knee and tries to kick out at the man trying to pull her away from the rest of the action. She manages to kick his leg and take him down to eye level. But a swift punch to her stomach and she can only utter a cry and fall backward.

Ressler's elbow comes up to one of his attacker's nose, busting it and forcing the man to cry out in pain as fresh blood gushes forth. He hears Liz's cry and feels instant panic starting to seize him. You have to help her! He manages to pull away from his lone standing attacker and race toward the man who had just pulled a knife and was about to take Liz down for good.

His body hurls into the knife attacker, both of them slamming into the wet mud and rolling to the side. Liz looks up just as the other man advances and knows she can't allow Ressler to be taken to McBeth to be tortured and then slowly killed. As Ressler tangles with the other man, she lunges forward and grabs at the man's legs, using whatever strength she could muster to jerk them back and force the man to slam backward, his head hitting the side of the busted SUV and his lips to cry out.

The man with the broken nose rushes forward, grabbing Liz by the hair and forcing her to cry out in pain. Hearing her scream, forces Ressler to finish off his man and race back to help Liz, slamming into the two male bodies and letting her go free.

Liz scrambles to find the gun…any gun and at least even the odds. Just as her fingers clutch one, two strong hands grab her shoulders and try to pull her away. Liz manages to counter the move by turning and firing into the man's chest. He screams out in pain as his body falters before slamming into the muddy ground. Dead. Two men left in the game.

"Hold it right there!" Liz shouts as she gets to her knees and fires off a warning shot to the man who was about to knife Ressler. "Drop that knife or I drop you!"

The man merely offers her a sneer but raises his knife. Knowing that they wanted at least one of them alive to find out where McBeth was hiding and who actually hired them, Liz prepares to shoot the last attacker standing in the leg.

She slowly stands up, gun trained on the man who was almost daring her to shoot and prepares to fire. "I said…drop your knife."

But just before she can fire off another warning shot, another shot is heard, forcing her body to automatically jerk and then freeze. A few seconds later the man who had been threatening Ressler with a knife collapses to the ground. Dead.

One man left alive in the game.

"Liz!" Ressler shouts as he grabs her hand and pulls her toward the front of the SUV just as they are met with a hail of gunfire that explodes various pieces of glass, punctures the last exposed tire and decorates the driver's side of the inoperable vehicle.

"McBeth!" She states with an angry growl as another round punctuates the cold, afternoon air, forcing Ressler's arms to cover Liz's head and shoulders, bits of glass and aluminum raining down onto his back and head.

"Where's your phone?"

"I dropped it on the floor!" She replies with a loud voice.

"I'll tr…"

But just as the last word 'try' escapes Ressler's lips the gunfire stops and silence ensues. They remain crouched together for a few seconds before Ressler's head dares to pop up and look around. "Wait here," he tells her firmly as he crawls toward the front of the SUV and looks at the two now dead bodies lying a few meters away.

All four attackers – dead.

"Damn it!"

"What?" Liz asks in haste.

"He killed the last two left alive. They failed…and he made sure they wouldn't live to regret it or give us anything," Ressler growls through gritted teeth. "We need…" he starts as he tries to get out to get a closer look at the bodies, wanting to get their phones or ID's.

But more gunfire awaits them, forcing Ressler to dart back behind the front of the SUV for cover. He looks up to see Liz inside the SUV and can only offer a panicked expression as she utters a small yelp as bullets finally shatter the windshield.

"Liz! What the hell…" Ressler shouts as he pulls her back to his side.

"I needed my phone and the book!"

"Where's my phone?" He asks dryly. "Thoughts?"

"We have only one gun and he's on the roof…and we're…oh no," Liz utters as both look to the left to see headlights in the distance. "Reinforcements and we're almost out."

"We're outta here," Ressler states firmly as he stows his phone inside his pocket, tightly clasps her right hand with his left and bolts in the opposite direction of the vehicle carnage. A few bullets whiz past them, making small 'ping' sounds into whatever they might embed themselves in or ricochet off of. The muddy terrain and uneven surface from the construction makes it impossible for them to run in a straight line or with much success, but whatever impedes them also impedes their pursuers.

As soon as the bullets stopped firing, both look back to see the other SUV stop, collect the four dead bodies and speed away.

"Damn I hate that we got nothing again!"

"Yeah except our lives," Liz retorts dryly as Ressler looks at her in concern. "What?"

"Looks like I'm not the only one needing the warm bath," he gently replies as he removes a piece of caked dirt from her face and then starts to make sure she was really okay. "Are you hit anywhere?"

"No that was his…blood," she huffs as she looks back and frowns. "You?"

"Good thing I got my rabies shot today," he tosses back as she gives him a small headshake. "I'm fine. What time was that appointment?"

"Wha…oh damn," Liz lightly curses as she looks at her watch and then in the direction of a main street a few blocks away. "We're not going to make it."

"Call Cooper about the SUV. I'll…try to get us a cab."

The two of them hurry toward the busy street, Liz updating Cooper along the way and Ressler keeping a trained eye and a readied weapon just in case McBeth wasn't finished this round. He feels her hands gently move up the side of his face and come away with a small amount of caked muck.

"Thanks," he replies softly as she offers him a tender smile in return. "Come on," he tells her as he takes her hand once more and the two of them hurry toward the main street; finally flagging down a cab a few moments later and then heading for her apartment; their home.

"What the hell happened to you two?" The cabbie asks in wonder.

"We um…checked out that new mud wrestling place," Ressler answers in haste as Liz arches her brows.

"Yeah? Any good?"

"Was a blast," Ressler retorts dryly as Liz offers him a small smile.

"Yeah I was thinking I'd check it out," the cabbie remarks as Ressler frowns; Liz offering a small chuckle and then shrug before she pulls her phone and calls Cooper.

"Cooper, have anything on Oslo?" Ressler asks when she hangs up a few minutes later.

"Just that there is a known associate, Norman Oslo attached to Stanton's file but when he opened it there was nothing on him other than a name that was acquired during a wiretap. Nothing more. Which means…we need to talk to Red."

"But McBeth failed today."

"Did you happen to hear how long McBeth has before he's the next target?"

"I'm guessing a day which is why they haven't given up yet," Ressler huffs as he looks behind them and then back at Liz's concerned expression. "I don't know but Stanton isn't a man to suffer lightly. McBeth will try once more and then he'll be out."

"And then someone more lethal and desperate takes over…Oslo," Liz reminds him as they finally reach their apartment. Ressler pays the cabbie and then both hurry toward the front door and then inside. "You still have that gun?"

"A few rounds left, why?"

"Like you said…McBeth failed today. He knows if he doesn't get something he's the next one lying in the shallow grave," she reminds him as the two elevator doors slowly slide open. "My address is unlisted but if they could hack into your citizenship and FBI files…they'll easily find where I live."

"And then they find us," Ressler adds gravely as they round the corner and look at the two people waiting for them. A man and a woman both dressed in dark suits and "looking" like official government agents.

"Ready?" He asks softly as she slips her hand into his; her heart racing but her mind taking some small comfort in the warm squeeze his offers in return.

"Ready," she whispers as they near the two people and then stop.

A/N: muwhahaha yup am leaving it there *grin* lots of action in this chapter and I hope it was okay. But I did manage a few cute moments. But hmm both got pretty dirty and a bit banged up…some personal tending to is in the works perhaps? Any takers for that? Hehe and who are waiting for them? Real immigration people? Stanton's people? Avon salespeople? Haha and what will Red tell them now? Would love your thoughts as always so please do review and let me know what you thought of this hopefully nail biting action and what you'd like to see for the personal debrief hehe and thanks so much!