7.

Jacob didn't know the last time he had slept so well. He woke early, as had become his habit in the last year or more, but he actually felt rested. No nightmares had jerked him awake and he felt relaxed. The fact that he wasn't sleeping on plane or a train helped tremendously, but the woman that was sleeping at his side, her forehead pressed against his arm, was the real reason. She sighed in her sleep and shifted, burrowing down into the edge pillow that looked mostly unused on her side of the bed.

His lips perked up in a smile, but the shuffling and low voices outside the room caught his attention. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and slipped out of the bed without waking her. He tugged his jeans on as quietly as he could and caught pieces of the conversation through the door. Reddington was meeting with Bud that morning.

He glanced back to see Liz was still sleeping soundly and he made a quick decision. He didn't trust Reddington. Jacob prized himself on judging a situation, and right now all of his instincts were screaming that something was wrong. Liz trusted Reddington, but Jacob knew better than most that the talented profiler had a blind spot for those she cared about.

Jacob followed Reddington and Dembe as carefully as he knew how. Reddington was good at spotting a tail, but Jacob was more talented at being one.

He tailed them across town and eventually to an old building that looked just as ready to fall down as it did to stand up. He thought maybe a little closer to falling than standing. Jacob followed him in though, the whole time weighing his options. Liz was going to be pissed when she found out he's followed Reddington, but at least he could put his own mind at ease.

Reddington kept too many important secrets from those that needed the answers to do their jobs. Jacob was done with being the well-trained dog ready to fetch a master's bone in command. If Reddington proved trustworthy here he could move forward without a problem, but if he were withholding dangerous information... Then Jacob would know his suspicions were right and he and Liz could decide their next move.

The former operative spotted a messenger that he didn't specifically recognize, but to someone who had gone through the same training, he was obviously one of Bud's. The Major must have felt threatened from all ends if he was traveling with security. It was rare. So rare that Jacob had been the last one to travel with him as security and that had been over ten years before. The detail made it both easier and harder to follow. Easier because he knew what the young operative had been taught, but harder because Reddington and Dembe were on alert.

Jacob slipped into the building, staying low and silent. From what he could tell the walls and the floors were half rotted through in various places, do it was a matter of finding the best place to listen in.

He made his way up the stairs, for once appreciating the fact that Reddington loved his stories so dearly. The older man went on and on about some woman he met in Sweden, and Jacob followed the voice until he he could hear it though the floor. He moved carefully, finding some spots more treacherous than others, until he found a half wall to stand against, listening through the hole in the floor.

Reddington had said that he had found Bud's price. He was going to use it to pull Justin Masterson off Liz's trail, but as Jacob listened, he wasn't sure he was comfortable with that price.

"He's trouble for us both," Bill McCready was saying. "The kid has done irreversible damage to my business and yours. You want him away from the girl and I-"

"You need him to keep your organization's secrets quiet," Reddington finished for him, sounding as if he'd already given that some thought.

"I do. I don't give a damn about the girl as long as Jacob is out of the picture. It's a good scenario for us both, as long as you can deliver everything you've said."

Of course it was. If Jacob were out of the picture and there was no one left to help balance Liz out when she started blindly trusting Reddington. All the secrets died with him, including information that he had on the Major's school. This was why he was never quick to jump and tell all. He needed leverage to stay alive, but his trust in Liz had been the driving factor when he had chosen to align himself even with the likes of Reddington. Shame that that trust was the same thing that was going to get him killed by a man.

A soft buzzing came from his pocket and Jacob mentally cursed it, fingers digging into his jeans to try to silence it. Liz's number shone on the caller ID and he didn't dare breathe for a moment as he listened to see if Bud, Reddington, or either of the men that were with them had heard the sound. Dembe, as always, stood by Reddington's side, and Bud had more protection around him then Jacob had seen in some time. Perhaps he'd simply found himself at the wrong end of a barrel too much recently.

They were still talking, which was mostly a good sign, and Jacob eased his weight carefully to start down the hall. The floor was unsteady in places from lack of care, but he made it around the corner again and out of earshot before the phone buzzed again. He snapped it open and Liz's voice filled his ear. "Where are you? I woke up and you were gone."

"Getting into more trouble than I bargained for," her ex groused lowly, glancing behind him. He had thought he heard something, but when he looked there was no one there. "Listen, Reddington is meeting with Bud."

There was a beat of silence from the other end of the line. "Tom, tell me you're not there. You have to trust him, and if not him, then me. He's not going to betray you."

"Lizzy, he already has. He's-"

"Can't stake a place out without checking in with the missus?"

Jacob spun, gun in his free hand and found himself staring at the familiar face of Justin Masterson.

"Tom?" Liz called from the other end of the line.

"I'll call you back," he promised and clicked it shut before she could argue. No need to tell her what was going on. He didn't want her trying to come help and get caught in the crossfire. "Masterson."

"Phelps," the younger man greeted. "Hope you said your goodbyes when you left."

"You always did have too much confidence in your own skills," Jacob huffed and he was moving just before Masterson got the shot off, the bullet burying in the wall he had been standing in front of. He returned fire, aimed at the moving target as they dodged each other quicker than most people would have been able to move. They shared the same training and basic skillset, even if their personalities differed greatly.

Jacob bit back a cry as bullet skimmed too close, leaving his jacket torn and arm burning beneath. Worse, it forced him to release his own weapon, sending the gun clattering to the floor. Masterson's gun clicked, but the lack of ammunition didn't slow him down as he barreled forward, slamming Jacob hard against the wall and the older man thought he felt it give a little behind him.

He kicked out, catching Masterson in the gut and sending him stumbling back. They moved in and around each other, the warehouse mostly empty and void of much to use against each other. Blows were exchanged fairly evenly back and forth before Jacob saw his opportunity and took it, slamming his boot into the younger man's knee.

Masterson went down with a yelp, hitting the ground hard. He didn't wait to scramble for the gun that Jacob had dropped earlier and Jacob took off across the open space and towards the door that led to the hall. He needed to find the stairs. They were four stories up and he had no interest in going out a window and testing his luck and survival skills quite that much.

He was at the door and nearly around the corner when the shot went off and nicked him, sending him stumbling into the wall just beyond the doorframe. He slammed hard, his side burning, but he didn't have time to wait. They'd made enough noise to bring other people their way and he just needed to get out.

Jacob found the stairs, the door that should have been hiding them half off its hinges, and slowed himself down, listening for any signs that he was about to run headlong into more trouble. His breathing filled his own ears, and reluctantly he risked a look down to where blood had already begun to seep through his grey t-shirt. He winced, hand pressed carefully against it, and decided that he should be able to get out without too much of a problem. It hurt like hell, but the bullet hadn't cut too deeply into his side.

He was nearly two levels down when he spotted Dembe making his way up. A low curse left him and Jacob turned, sprinting back up to the closest landing and through the door that remained intact. He could take the stairs at the other end, avoiding Reddington's bodyguard.

Or he would have, if Reddington himself weren't standing there as if he were waiting on him with his gun drawn and motioning to see his hands up. Jacob growled through clenched teeth as he obliged, and the eccentric criminal snorted. "Lizzy's foolish husband," he sighed, almost as if it were his own personal nickname for the younger man. "I told you to let me handle this. You shouldn't have followed me, Tom. You just made things exceedingly more complicated than they need to be."

The door opened behind him and Dembe came through it, but he didn't look happy. "Bill is just behind me."

"You're going to kill me," Jacob acknowledged softly, glancing back towards the door. Reddington had come to broker a deal to keep Liz safe, that much was obvious, but he was accomplishing two of his goals in one swift motion. Liz would be safe from the Major and Jacob would be dead.

A small, enigmatic smile perked his lips. "If only. It would make life so much easier, but as we both know, Tom, not everything is as it appears on the surface." He lowered his gun and shrugged, taking a step closer. "I fear Elizabeth would never forgive me."

Jacob blinked, surprised by the words, his brain scrambling into overdrive for an exit strategy that didn't include the Major coming after the woman he loved. Bud had obviously seen that Dembe was following him, and as good as the former operative was, Reddington's bodyguard was no pushover. That, and there wasn't much left of the floor between them and the door on the other side. Getting to it would take time that they didn't have. There was only one option of he wanted to keep Liz safe. The idea didn't set well with him, but if he would do what he had to to protect her. "Then we'll kill Bud. Take him out of play and it'll send his people scrambling-"

"I'm afraid that's not part of the plan either."

"Then what?" Jacob let out a startled sound as Reddington reached out, one hand latched onto his collar and he used the momentum to swing the younger man off his feet. His side burned at the sudden movement, pulling the wound open a little wider and he stumbled in the direction that he was being tugged, feeling gravity doing most of the work for the other man.

Reddington's expression was tight. "Don't die," he breathed out and released.

It felt like he was suspended mid-air for a moment before he could feel himself falling backwards. There was nothing to grab onto, and all he could do was try to hit right. He slammed hard into the floor below them and all the wind was driven from his lungs. He gasped, stunned for a moment, and heard shouts from above. The floor below him creaked dangerously and buckled, sending him down again. Sharp wood and building materials reached out, biting and clawing at him as he fell, and by the time that he hit the bottom floor everything had gone dark.

TBC

Next time: Liz comes face to face with Masterson and confronts Red about what she thinks he has done.