Lizzy was freshening up in the bathroom; Red could hear the water running, and smell the faint scent of bath products wafting out under the door on humid air.

Michael had given them the honeymoon suite. Such as it was, at least. Red couldn't decide whether he would have felt less off-kilter if it had happened before they'd been intimate.

Perhaps so. Perhaps not. Maybe it would have been more casual then, like when they changed clothes in the back of the van. Just a practical thing, rather than… what it could be now.

He'd been standing in front of the window by the door for a long while, staring out into the parking lot through the sheer curtains. They were far enough away from the main building that they'd at least have some kind of head start if the authorities came knocking. Not much peace of mind, to be sure, but it was better than none at all.

He should get undressed, get in bed. An unusual self-consciousness had taken root in the pit of his stomach and threatened his composure, but if he acted like this was normal, maybe he would stop being so aware of how aware Lizzy was of him.

"Hey, Red?" came Lizzy's voice, indistinct as if from a distance. "Earth to Red, hello?"

Sluggishly, Red glanced back over his shoulder to find her standing just outside the bathroom. She looked lovely, tired as she was, with her skin scrubbed pink and the wisps of blonde hair framing her face dark and damp from the water; she was wearing one of his undershirts again.

"Hmm?"

"You doing OK?"

"Just tired," he said quietly, with a half-smile. "Don't worry about me. "

She gave him a look that made him feel like his reassurance had fallen on deaf ears, but she played along nonetheless. "You gonna shower?"

He shook his head. "I'd rather sleep. Chances are we'll only be safe here long enough for dear Michael at the front desk to catch the morning news."

With one last perusal of the parking lot, Red took a fortifying breath and undid his trousers. He stepped out of them and draped them over the arm of the chair by the window, then sat on the edge of the bed and bent to pull off his socks. Lizzy's attention felt warm on the back of his neck.

Before long, the bed shifted under her weight.

"I wonder what he'll say."

"What do you mean?"

"If they catch up to us. I wonder what he'll say to the cops. Or, who knows, maybe even Ressler."

Red twisted and settled himself against the pillows next to Lizzy. She had a faraway look in her eye, and she was rubbing surreptitiously at the scar on her wrist. He frowned; that was a dangerous road to travel, there. What he needed to do was keep her talking, keep her in the moment, so she didn't get lost in the depths of her own mind.

And perhaps he wouldn't get lost in the depths of his, either.

"'Criminals? Terrorists? Oh, but that's impossible!" he said, in a passable imitation of Michael's voice. "I mean, it sure looks like them, but they seemed like such a nice, normal couple. You know. Just another average middle-aged man with a girlfriend who's way out of his league.'"

"Out of your league? Please," she scoffed; her ears, however, had gone red. "As if anyone's out of your league."

"You'd be surprised. Besides, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. What matters is people's perceptions. There are certain conclusions people jump to when they see us together and, trust me, not all of them are very flattering. To either of us. And I guarantee you some people take one look at us and think you're out of my league."

"Or they think I'm your daughter."

"God, don't remind me," he said, with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes; he sobered quickly when faced with her expression, still wan and troubled. He shifted onto his side and propped himself up on an elbow.

Red laid his free hand gently on her bare forearm, caressing her with his thumb. "The fact that no one regularly goes out of their way to show you how desirable you are is a travesty, Lizzy."

"Well, you haven't exactly filled me with a lot of self-confidence in that department either. Until very recently." At his bemused look, she explained, "Even the other day when I dyed my hair, you—"

"Ah."

"You complimented a total stranger's hair rather than mine, Red," she said, eyes locked with his. "And when I confronted you about looking like my mother, you didn't deny it."

Red chewed on the inside of his lip. "I… apologize… that sometimes when I'm around you, I devolve into a tongue-tied teenage boy on his first date, who has no idea how to verbalize the emotions coursing through him."

Lizzy blinked in surprise. "OK, I'm not gonna lie, that's an adorable mental image."

He smiled tightly. "I'm glad the humiliating return of my awkward adolescent self could provide you with so much amusement."

"Come on, you're hardly that kid anymore. You walk into a room and people's heads turn. I know you know it. You benefit from it—hell—your business depends on it."

"All that means is the facade I've built over the years is working. You've had a peek behind the curtain lately. Not many people have. At least not since I've had to rely on the bespoke suits and charm to make a first impression rather than boyish good looks and 80s teen heartthrob hair."

Lizzy snorted, glancing up at his hair, which decidedly did not still match his description. "Oh, god, you're right. I've seen pictures. That's exactly what it was. I bet you had people swooning left and right."

"I swear I didn't! If anything, I had to work harder to be taken seriously—"

"Relax, you don't have to get so defensive about it, I believe you. Besides." She reached up and brushed her fingertips over the close-cropped stubble on his scalp. "I prefer your hair like this."

After a few moments of silence, Lizzy gave Red a gentle nudge with her elbow. "Hey," she stage-whispered. "See how easy that was?"

"Point taken," Red said; he gathered up her hand in his. "My reaction to your hair had nothing to do with your mother, Lizzy. I hope somewhere deep down you already knew that."

Lizzy shrugged. "Knowing and believing are two different things," she said, turning to meet his gaze across the pillows again. "Maybe it's easier to believe it now."

Red smiled and brought her hand up to press a slow kiss to each of her knuckles. When he lowered it again, her face was much closer than it had been before; she leaned forward and kissed him—once almost tentatively and then again more assertively. His chest tightened.

Oh, how easy it was to lose himself in her arms! It had been far too long since he allowed himself to appreciate kissing for kissing's sake, and kissing Lizzy, well… Once again, he found himself more closely resembling that nervous boy he'd described than the haunted, dangerous man he'd become.

Leisurely, Lizzy pulled back; a slow, tired smile curved her lips. "This is… nice."

"It is."

"It feels wrong to think that. Like I should be miserable after what I've done."

"You learn to take whatever joy you can find when you're on the run."

"Thank you. For being here with me. There's no way I would've made it this far without you."

"It's the least I could do, Lizzy. You deserve so much more than this."

She stiffened slightly in his arms. "You can spin what I did all you want, but I killed Connolly in cold blood."

"He was threatening people you care about—"

"He threatened you. That's when I pulled the trigger. He didn't have the power over you that he had over everyone else, you weren't in any immediate danger, not like…" She trailed off with a shudder; Red wondered whether she she saw him with Yaabari's gun to the back of his skull or flat on his back, bleeding out in the street. "I shot him anyway."

"I… Thank you."

"You—You're thanking me?"

"Perhaps I wasn't in immediate danger, but Tom Connolly had the potential to be every bit as dangerous to me as Yaabari was, even if he prefers not to get his hands dirty. That anonymous sniper could attest to that, if we had any idea who he was. You might very well have saved my life. Again."

"But we wouldn't be in this mess—"

"Lizzy. What were you supposed to do, turn yourself in and let the Cabal make you their scapegoat?" "Listen to me—you did what you needed to do in that moment. And if even one of the reasons you chose to do it was to protect me? Believe me, I am—" he took a deep, shaky breath— "forever grateful. Even if it complicated things for now."

Lizzy clenched her jaw and swallowed, visibly; her eyes welled up with unshed tears before she closed them and when she pressed her lips to his again, she kissed him with a fierceness that called to the part of his battered soul that had spent decades protecting her.

Red pulled back reluctantly. "We really should sleep."

"I know. Damn it, I wish…" She trailed off.

"So do I," he said, and squeezed her hand.

He wished so many things.

He wished they could've been dealt a different hand in life. He wished they had more time to be the ordinary couple they portrayed themselves to be. He wished this thing between them could be more than temporary.

They drifted off to sleep together, her fingers entwined with his.