4.
It was the story of their relationship that something always managed to get in the way when they needed to have a discussion. Her job, his job, and everything in between. He had wanted - no, he had needed - to tell Liz he loved her. He hadn't said it since they had been married, and while he thought she knew it now, he still needed to say it. The words had stuck in his throat more than once and he had never been so worried about saying the wrong thing in his life. Like the illusion might shatter and he'd find himself alone and half a world away from her all over again. It had felt right in that moment, though, after she had clearly told him that she trusted him. That trust meant more than he could say, but he had been willing to try. Of course Reddington had jumped in the middle of that.
And then they'd been attacked. The last thing he had heard was the screeching tires and the impact of the other vehicle sent them tumbling. Jacob blinked his eyes open, certain that he couldn't have been out more than a few seconds if their attackers hadn't gotten inside yet.
He was hanging upside down, his seatbelt keeping him fastened into place, and he grabbed for the bag that he'd put the few position that he had managed to buy or procure on the run. The gun Liz had given him - the same one she'd taken with her the day he had known he was leaving alone - was just out of reach. He winced and glanced to his right, finding Liz unconscious in the seat next to him. "Lizzy?" he called, struggling to reach out to her.
"They're coming," Dembe said from the front and Jacob frowned. It looked like they were the ones still conscious after the impact.
He finally found the latch for the seatbelt and suddenly he was pressed against the roof of the vehicle, but at least he could reach his weapon. "Can you see how many?"
"I count three, but there may be more."
Jacob released the safety on his gun and crouched against the ceiling. He risked a glance back to see Liz hadn't stirred yet and forced himself to focus. He saw the pairs of shoes Dembe had used to count them by and took aim.
"What the hell happened?" Reddington managed from his seat, coming around in an irritable way.
"We were hit. Elizabeth is unconscious. If you can get her out, Tom and I will hold them," Dembe explained.
Jacob could almost feel Reddington's apprehension at the plan, but they didn't have time to wait. He took the shot that had come into line for him, the bullet hitting the man's ankle, bring him to his knees almost immediately as he howled in pain. Dembe fired his own weapon and the man fell dead.
Shouts were heard outside of the vehicle as Jacob kicked his door to help pry it open, barely missing a bullet of his own. "Cover me," he said and didn't wait for a response. He ducked out, rolling to miss the attack.
One man was down, a male and female operative were still on their feet and armed, but it was the man lingering in the background that caught his eye. Justin Masterson. He'd grown up with the man, trained with him, and learned with him. They had been rivals and something like friends throughout their lives. Well, when they hadn't been trying to kill each other.
A thin smile stretched Masterson's lips and Jacob barely got out of the way as the female operative took another shot at him. They were the distraction. Justin would be after Liz and Reddington. "Watch him!" Jacob yelled, motioning towards the man that still hadn't moved as Dembe made it from the overturned vehicle. If Masterson's gaze flickering over meant anything, Reddington and Liz were making it out from the other side.
Jacob's attention swiveled back to his immediate task of handling the two that had teamed up on him. He was still a little stiff from the boat incident a few days before, but it didn't slow him down too badly. They brought the fight on close and he dodged a fist meant for his jaw only to be caught with a boot to his back. He cursed lowly, swinging around and pulled his gun up, firing one shot and then another. The first only clipped the younger man, but the second buried itself in his skull, taking him down.
The woman didn't waste time. They had obviously been warned about the Major's formerly prized operative and just how well trained he was. Her first move was to land a solid blow to his wrist and the gun fell from his hand. He dodged the next and swung around, dropped, and took her feet out from under her.
She hit the ground hard, but was up faster than she had time to make sure she was clear for. She was young and didn't have nearly as much experience under her belt. She would have been good, and Jacob almost regretted the waste of talent. He slammed his elbow into her nose hard, bloodying it. She staggered and didn't see Jacob coming as he snapped her neck, dropping her to the ground.
He grabbed his gun and turned, looking over to where Dembe was was holding his own against Masterson. They were on the outskirts of the airstrip when they were hit, but there was a lot of open space to cover between the wrecked suv and the waiting plane. Reddington had a dazed Liz out of the vehicle, but she didn't look like she was moving fast. If Masterson was working with a team, he likely wouldn't have brought them all forward right at first.
Taking Justin out was priority and the best way to get them to the plane alive.
"Heya, Jake. Been a while," the taller man greeted as he approached. "Kill both of the kids already?"
Jacob's face remained blank in response to the cold question, his eyes hard and expression walled off. "You develop a suicidal streak coming for me?"
"You're an added bonus. I'm here for the girl."
"You won't get her."
Masterson's smile broadened and there was something chilling in it. "I don't have a problem killing you, Jake. You know that, and you've gone too soft to beat me."
Jacob snorted. "Yeah? That the case?"
Dembe was watching the exchange warily, blood trailing down his face from where Justin had opened up a gash above the man's left eye. Reddington was moving Liz to the plane and they were the distraction. He could live with that.
Both men had similar backgrounds, similar base training. While Jacob had proved skilled at deep cover work, Justin had moved on to what amounted to interrogation. Jacob had always enjoyed his job, but Masterson took a certain level of enjoyment that made even Jacob uneasy.
"Where is he?" the burned operative asked as he mostly dodged a blow that would have hurt like hell. It clipped his shoulder, and probably only missed because it was now Justin fighting two at once.
"Who?"
"The reason you're bothering with us and not Reddington." A blow knocked him on his back, but it opened up a chance for Dembe to get his hands on him. The older man had lost his gun at some point, but once he had Masterson in a hold, Jacob pulled back the hammer on his own, pressing it against his temple so he couldn't squirm away.
Justin smirked. "The Cabal wants her alive. Doesn't mean they need her in one piece."
A sniper. How had he been so stupid? Jacob barely thought about it as he slammed the butt of his gun against the other operative's head and took off in a full sprint after Reddington and Liz, looking for the hidden gunman as he did. He ignored Dembe calling after him, but at least he was following as the shots began to hit close. "Go!" he yelled.
The engines were already running on the plane and Jacob reached the stairs about the time that the others did, with the exception of Dembe who was a few steps behind and returning fire. "Give me your gun and get her inside," Reddington ordered and Jacob didn't argue. He handed the older man his weapon and wrapped an arm around Liz, nearly carrying her. She was still a little loopy from the wreck and she let him.
Instinct flared as they reached the top step and Jacob lunged forward, putting himself between Liz and the gunfire that erupted as soon as they stepped inside. He was going to kill Masterson by the time this was over. He had no question about that now.
He and Liz landed awkwardly half behind a seat and he found blue eyes staring blurrily up at him. "Tom?"
"It's okay," he promised, but he could hear the lie in his own voice. Reddington had his gun and they were the only ones in the plane with the shooter. Even if he made a move to take him he knew he wouldn't make it before he was taken down. He was good, but he wasn't bulletproof. It still might be Liz's only chance. "Stay down," he told her firmly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you, Lizzy."
"Tom, what-?"
He was ready to give it his best effort when two more shots rang out and then silence, followed by Reddington's irritated shout. "Dembe, I'm afraid you'll need to pilot the plane today. Tom, make yourself useful and help me get rid of this."
This turned out to be the man posing as their pilot that had been shooting at them. Liz motioned that she was fine, and he moved to help Reddington toss the dead weight out of the door as Dembe got them ready to fly.
Liz still felt like she working through a fog, but at least it was starting to clear. Her head hurt and when she reached up to run her hand through her hair she found dried blood in it. She sank back and watched the guys work.
They all looked like they had been through hell. Reddington's pristine suit was ripped in several places, his hat lost in the shuffle of everything. Dembe had blood dried to the left side of his face and was holding his arm carefully as he moved to the cockpit. Tom had his back to her now, but he'd been right there with her as they had come into the plane, bullets flying in all directions. He seemed to be moving well enough, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't bother telling her if he had been hurt. Not if he could hide it.
"Are you alright?" Reddington asked tightly as he took the seat across from the bench she was sitting on and motioned for her to fasten her belt.
"I think so. My head is still a little fuzzy, but I'm okay. You?"
He snorted, leaning to inspect a tear in his slacks. "Your bag is in the front compartment."
"Thank you. I didn't even... Thank you." Everything she owned was in it and she hadn't even thought to grab it in the middle of everything. Her eyes flickered up as Tom sank into the seat next with her, looking exhausted and sore. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. Tell you for sure when the adrenaline rush wears off." He laid his head back against the seat and loosed a long breath before looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "You?"
"I think so." She felt the plane start to move forward and leaned closer to him. He was spotted with blood, but she couldn't tell if all of it was his. She reached forward, her fingers ghosting over a cut along his cheekbone and he reached up and caught her hand. She could get lost in those eyes of his. He had always had that effect on her. He'd told her he loved her and had looked ready to go die for her just a few moments before. There he was though, and her slightly addled brain was still wrapping around the words he hadn't actually said since the night he had walked out the front door of their townhouse with Hudson. She knew it was true, of course, and perhaps the words meant even more now because of that. She pulled his hand to her lips and kissed his scraped knuckles. "I love you too," she whispered.
Tom's entire expression lit up and it was like he couldn't quite control the smile. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Reddington snorted from his seat. "As sickeningly sweet as all this is, we have more important things to discuss."
Tom looked a little irritated at the interruption, but nodded, his fingers still interlocked with Liz's and she squeezed them. "Masterson was there. Working with a team slowed him down though. My guess is that he'll lose them next time."
"Why didn't you kill him?"
"There were a few more pressing matters at that exact moment."
He tilted his head and Liz watched her ex husband and her self-appointed protector study each other for a long moment. She thought she might have to step between, but Red waved it off after a moment. "True. Though if you're planning on growing a conscious in all of this, I'd suggest you wait until we've finished what needs to be done. Lizzy is my only priority in this, and if I find that you aren't useful in protecting her, then I have no use for you at all."
Liz turned to look at the man she loved. He looked exhausted and his expression hadn't relaxed. He watched with that calculated look he could get, assessing the situation. "I'm here to make sure she's safe. I'd give my life for that."
"Oh good," Red answered with fake cheer. "Maybe something good will come out of this day after all. If you'll excuse me." He stood, moving stiffly towards the cockpit where Dembe was and leaving them alone.
Slowly Tom started to relax, his grip loosening but never letting go and the hardness in his eyes faded. He released a long breath and leaned back, slouched against the back of the bench seat. It took a moment more before his eyes slipped closed, and, when they didn't open again, Liz felt worry bubble up inside. "Tom?"
"I'm okay," he murmured and blinked his eyes open.
"You sure?"
"Pretty sure."
"Don't you dare lie to me," she told him firmly, but he cracked a small smile at it.
"I know better than that by now."
"Good," she said, exhaustion rolling across her suddenly. It didn't matter how much she'd slept on the train, suddenly all she wanted to do was go to sleep, but with a possible concussion that wasn't an option. "So, you grew up with Masterson?"
Tom pulled in a deep breath and shifting so that he could look at her better. His gaze met hers and she saw look she'd begun to recognize: it was a purposeful honesty. Honesty that he had to make a conscious effort for. "Yeah," he said after a moment. "We… He and Gina and I were about the same place in training. None of us are exactly team players, but when we were younger Bud liked to pair the three of us on assignments together. We were… his favourites, I guess you could say."
"So he raised all of you?"
"He did." His gaze shifted a little and there was a distant look in his eyes. "Bud… He picked Gina up off the streets of Moscow and Justin up in Florida where he'd killed one of the other guys in his foster home in cold blood." He shrugged. "That's the story he tells, anyway, but it's just as likely it was a fight gone bad."
"So he killed before Bud got to him?" Liz asked, feeling a terrible sort of dread wash over her. There were days when she thought she'd seen it all and that nothing could surprise her. Bud McCready - the Major- warping kids into killers was bad enough, but if Masterson had been a killer from the get-go, they could be working against a truly terrifying individual with all that training to back him up.
"That's not all that uncommon," Tom said, inspecting his right wrist that was starting to show the earliest signs of what would be a bruise. She wasn't sure if it really hurt or he was just uncomfortable making eye contact with her on this subject. "Bud looks for kids with no way out. He gives them a choice, sure, but not really. Justin would have gone to jail without Bud's help."
"What about you?" Liz asked softly, reaching out and touching his hand carefully so as not to jar his wrist he was still looking so intently at.
"What do you mean?"
"How'd he find you?"
He looked up at her, and she was certain that a haunted expression flickered through his eyes before the door snapped shut and all of the emotions he didn't want to feel were hidden behind it. "You don't want to hear that story."
"I do. I wouldn't have asked otherwise."
"Liz…"
She moved before he could finish, pressing a kiss to his lips and immediately silencing whatever argument he was going to give. She wasn't sure if it was the blow to the head or if she was finally ready, but she suddenly needed to know the details about her ex husband's past that he kept so close to himself. If she was going to love him, she wanted to love all of him. "I'm asking. I won't… hold it against you. I promise."
"You can't promise that," he said quietly and the door had cracked just a little.
"Tom, I don't want anymore lies between us. Please."
He chuckled, the sound more tired than amused. "You say that, but, Liz sometimes I think you've got this idea in your head of… I don't know. You say you want to get to know me, but you won't even use my real name."
Liz blinked, surprised by the statement. He'd asked her to call him Jacob once, but when she didn't he hadn't said anything about it. Part of it was habit - hell, they'd been married nearly three years and had known each other for longer than that - and the other part… If she were honest, she was having trouble letting go. "Does it bother you?"
"A little."
She smiled, shaking her head and he shot her a questioning look. "Okay," she answered, reaching forward to touch his face. "I'll do my best as long as you try not to be offended if I mess up."
Tom - Jacob - echoed the smile. "Okay."
"So, Jacob, what made you take the offer?"
He pulled in another deep breath and looked like he was steadying himself. "I bounced around the foster system a lot as a kid. Never stayed in one place very long. My last place… Some stuff happened and I had to run. Took the car keys and his wallet and got as far as New York City from Chicago before I'd burned through the cash and the cards were reported. I was on the streets until Bud found me."
"You were fourteen?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah."
There was something painful about his expression and Liz wrapped her arms around him from the side, pulling him close. He leaned in, returning the slightly awkward hug with his head leaned against her shoulder. "Babe," she murmured seriously, "this is your family, isn't it?"
"In a way."
"Are you…"
He pulled back, his lips thinning out as if he were trying for a smile and only managed a grimace. "Going to be able to kill them?"
"Maybe it won't come to that."
"You and I both know it could, and... " He swallowed hard. "If it's them or you, I choose you. Every time."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Everything," Liz whispered, her voice breaking.
Tom offered her a real smile. "Me too. There's only going forward now, though. If you want to."
She nodded, leaning into him. His hand came up to her hair and she held on, her mind working through exactly what she was asking him to do and the fact that he had seemingly already made that decision. The fact that he could make that choice - that he would - should have terrified her more than it did. Somehow it just set a knot of pain deep in her chest and she promised herself that when this was over, they would help each other pick of the pieces. At least they wouldn't have to do it alone.
TBC
Next time - Alliances begin to form and Red knows just how to get under Jacob's skin and irritate the hell out of him.
Please let me know what you think!