TWO
Disclaimer is on my profile
so here is where it starts with some of the drama... hope you guys stick with me through it. it will get better i promise and someone unexpected or expected enters the picture. she doesnt play a large roll in this story, so dont worry. shes not sticking around. would love to hear if you thought you were correct in guessing who you think i am/was talking about. hope everyone enjoys
~*~ TBL ~*~
The next week went by rather slowly. They had finally tracked the blacklister down after a few days. Ray, of course, had helped. Giving Lizzie a few more clues to help them. They had only talked a few times since Ray was paranoid about his vulnerability being found out. Her. And Nora.
Dembe had called her at the week mark telling her that they weren't going to be home for a few more days. Lizzie knew that they could handle themselves, but at the same time she was worried. It wasn't like them to go that long without calling. And everyone at the PO was getting antsy. Yeah, they had paperwork and other things they could be doing, but their priority was the blacklist.
Lizzie looks across the desk to where Ressler was sitting as he sighs. She smiles, knowing that he was just as bored as everyone else. They were all on edge waiting for the next name. Cooper kept asking if she had heard anything from Reddington and she would frown every time.
All their paperwork had been done and now they were just waiting for Ray to come back. "Why don't you polish a gun or something?" Lizzie asks, squinting at the computer screen in front of her. She rubs her eyes as everything gets blurry for a moment. She had been staring at the screen for way too long. Ray really needed to get his ass back here. Just the thought of him brings a smile to her face. She couldn't wait to see him. She missed him and she knew that Nora missed him. She was slowly becoming more aware of the world around them and every time their front door opened she would try to look towards the door waiting to see if her Papa would be there.
Her phone rings and she looks at it to see 'hubby' flash across the screen. It was Ray's way of trying to be funny. "Ray?" she questions starting to laugh as Ressler lets out another sigh.
"Liz?" she hears Dembe question. He sounded different, off somehow.
"Dembe? What's wrong?" she asks. Something blooms inside of her stomach. Something she couldn't quite identify.
"How fast can you get to George Washington?"
"'George Washington?'" she questions, her mind going blank. She knew what was coming before she even knew what was coming. She starts breathing harder while placing her hand onto her desk trying to keep herself in the here and now and not letting her mind wander to all the possibilities of what Dembe was implying.
"University Hospital," Dembe mutters quietly. Ressler looks up as Lizzie's phone clatters to the desk. He gets up and rushes over, scooping up the phone and conversing quietly with Dembe. He looks at his partner worriedly seeing her glassy but unseeing eyes. Ressler pockets Lizzie's phone before helping her out of the chair and toward the center of the PO.
"Aram, Samar," Ressler calls out. The two agents turn as he deposits a despondent Lizzie into a chair. "I'm gonna grab Nora from the daycare. Reddington is in the hospital and it isn't looking good. Dembe just called Liz, I'm gonna bring her to the hospital. Can one of you bring Cooper up to speed when he gets out of his meeting?" they both nod before he guides Lizzie out of the chair and toward the elevator.
He brings her out to the car before sticking her in the passenger seat. He gets into the driver's seat and starts the car. He drives around the corner and rushes out before running into the daycare that was attached to the PO. He comes back out a few minutes later holding onto Nora's car seat and her diaper bag. He straps her into the backseat before taking off toward the hospital.
He was worried about Lizzie. She hadn't responded since she had gotten the phone call. She blinks a few times as Nora starts crying. "Ressler?" she asks as a few tears leak out of her eyes.
"How are you holding up?" he asks. She turns as Nora lets out another wail. She could see her daughter's hands waving wildly.
"I don't know. I'm numb Ress. I don't know what to think. I can't lose him. I don't know what I'm gonna do if I lose him. I can't…" she gasps out. Ressler lays his hand over hers and she grips it while a few tears leak out of her eyes. They get to the hospital a few minute later, Lizzie a little more calmly than before.
They see Dembe standing in the ambulance bay as they pull up. Lizzie rushes up to Dembe and he gathers her into his arms. "What happened Dembe?" she asks. He looks up as Ressler walks over carrying Nora's seat and her diaper bag. Lizzie takes the diaper bag from Ressler while Dembe takes the seat.
"I'm going to go park the car. Where are you guys heading?" he asks.
"The surgical floor," Dembe replies already leading Lizzie towards the elevators. Dembe stabs the up button and the two wait in silence.
"Dembe, what happened?" Lizzie asks quietly as they get onto the empty elevator.
"We were just getting ready to board the jet when the people we had been dealing with showed up. There were no words, they just took out their guns and started shooting. I was already on board, as was Mr. Kaplan. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I know basic medical stuff, but she knows far more than me. We managed to get the stairs up and out of there before they came on board, but the damage was done. Raymond was hit a few times. We had an ambulance waiting when we landed. They rushed him into surgery when we finally got here."
Dembe leads her down to where Ray's room was. Dembe takes the diaper bag off of Lizzie's shoulder and pushes her toward the room. Lizzie turns and takes Nora out of her seat and holds her close. Lizzie takes a deep breath before entering Ray's room. She pulls a chair as close to his bed as was possible before sitting down. She takes his cold hand into hers, finally allowing the tears to fall. "Oh Ray," she gasps out. "Come back to us. We need you." She leans back in the chair, settling Nora onto her chest. She closes her eyes and says a little prayer. She wasn't a religious person by any means, but she hoped to God or whoever was listening to not let Ray die.
She turns sharply as the door opens. Ressler walks in the room carrying Nora's blanket. He drapes the blanket over Nora's back before placing a hand onto Lizzie's shoulder.
"How's he doing?" he asks.
"I don't know. He looks stable," she shrugs. "I haven't talked to the doctor or anything. Dembe might be able to help you a little more."
They both turn as they notice someone standing in the doorway. They see the doctor standing there, looking over a chart. "Doctor, I'm Agent Donald Ressler, FBI." He pulls out his badge to show the doctor.
"I hear my patient is special," he says. "Well, no matter what, we will still give him the same care as the rest."
"How is he?" Lizzie asks, sitting up and pulling the doctor's gaze away from Ressler.
"My partner, Agent Elizabeth Scott is his fiancé," Ressler points to Ray. They converse for a few minutes. The doctor explains what happened to Ray and how they repaired everything. She let Ressler take control of the meeting with the doctor while she sat back holding onto her daughter and Ray's hand. She heard a few things from the doctor 'blood type' 'shortage' 'donors'.
She didn't even notice when Ressler and Dembe walked out of the room. She just held onto Ray's hand a little tighter. It was awful seeing him like this. Wires and tubes running everywhere. He had this larger than life presence about him, and to see him like this was heart breaking. She turns to see Dembe walking into the room as the doors open.
"We have to talk Liz," he tells her. She nods, pulling Nora, who was now sleeping, closer to her. "The doctor was telling me that there was a blood shortage. We all need to give blood. But what's worse is that we need to contact his ex-wife," he explains quietly.
"Naomi?" she questions. She shakes her head. "Or, Carla, or whatever the hell she's calling herself now. If my memory serves, Ray sent her and her husband off into the sunset. Gave them new identities. And when Ray wants someone to disappear, they disappear."
"I know where she is," Dembe tells her. "I keep track of her. As per Raymond's request." Lizzie turns and narrows her eyes at the bodyguard.
"What?" she asks. "What are you talking about?"
Dembe shakes his head. ""It's not what you are thinking. I just make sure that she is okay. Unless its life or death, Raymond doesn't want to know. I deal with all of that." Lizzie shakes her head. She turns to look at Ray once again. Only he would want to keep tabs his ex-wife.
"So this means I have to leave him?" she asks holding onto Ray's hand a little tighter. She loathed to leave him. What if he woke and she wasn't here? What if something happened to him and she wasn't here? She didn't want to leave him. But if finding his ex-wife, again, would help in the long run she would do it.
"You have until Will has the jet ready. Which shouldn't be long. We keep the jet gassed in case we need to make a quick getaway."
"I might need to stop at the house. Pick up a few things for Nora," Lizzie says absentmindedly. She was focused more on Ray than Dembe.
"Raymond started keeping it stocked with things for Nora. Just in case. For you as well. There's clothes for the both of you, diapers and wipes for Nora."
A few tears fall down her face as she stares at her fiancé. She gets up, tightening her grip on her sleeping daughter before leaning over and placing a kiss onto Ray's forehead. "Hang on love. I'll be back soon," she whispers. She follows Dembe out of Ray's room, down the hallway and eventually out of the hospital.
"Agent Ressler and Mr. Kaplan will look after Raymond. Nothing will happen to him," he tells her. She nods as they get into the car and Lizzie places Nora into her seat. After buckling her, Dembe starts the car and then they were off. Dembe maneuvering through the late afternoon DC traffic. Soon they were pulling into the private airstrip that Ray usually used and to the hangar where he stored his plane. It was waiting for them, the stairs were down. Will was standing at the top, greeting them as they started up.
"We need to leave as soon as possible," Dembe tells the pilot. Will nods before bringing the stairs up and then heads towards the cockpit. Lizzie gets Nora settled and then sits down in the seat next to her. Dembe takes a seat across from her and they buckle their belts as the jet starts to move. Soon they were lifting off and in the air. "How are you doing?" he asks quietly.
"I don't know. He has this larger than life presence about him, and now he's fighting for his life. I can't lose him Dembe, I can't. What's going to happen to us? To me and Nora? We can't live without him Dembe," tears rush down her face like a waterfall. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to stem the flow of the tears, but it was no use. She feels a pair of hands on her knees. She looks up to see Dembe kneeling in front of her.
"Yes, he's fighting for his life right now. But he needs you to be strong. He needs all of us to be strong for him right now. And if he does lose his fight? Then I will be here, along with Mr. Kaplan and everyone else. We will not leave you or Nora. You two are his life. Be strong for him and for your little girl."
A few more tears escape her eyes as she nods, taking in Dembe's words. She watches as he gets up and pulls his phone out. Lizzie watches as Dembe converses with whomever was on the other end. He sits back down and turns to look out the window.
"Where are we going anyway?" she asks.
"Washington," he tells her. "Seattle, to be more precise."
"You mean to tell me that Naomi and her husband have been just across the country the entire time?" Lizzie asks with a raised eyebrow, her voice raising.
Dembe shrugs. "She has been. Not sure about the husband. He disappeared shortly after the move."
"Disappeared? Or disappeared?"
Dembe shrugs again. "Raymond didn't have him killed or anything like that. I think he just moved on. He didn't stay with Carla long after. Personally, I think she caught him cheating on her again and kicked him out. I didn't bother to check it out. He's out of her life, that's all that Raymond cared about. Since then she has taken in a roommate. I'm not sure who she is. All I know is that Carla seems happy."
Lizzie nods and they lapse into silence. It wasn't an awkward silence by any means. While they were 'on the run', things had become easy between the two. They could sit in companionable silence for hours, each lost in their own thoughts. It was the same now. Lizzie says a silent prayer for Ray, hoping he lives to see another day. Lives to see his daughter grow up.
Nora lets out a happy squeal, breaking Lizzie out of her thoughts. She turns and smiles at her daughter. The rest of the flight was spent doing their own things, Dembe was on and off the phone, talking to who she didn't know. While she spent some time sitting on the floor, playing with Nora.
"Liz, look," Dembe tells her. Lizzie gets up holding onto Nora while walking over to her seat and looking out the window. The sun was setting, giving them a spectacular view of the Seattle skyline. Lizzie settles Nora into her seat as they begin their descent. They finally stop outside of a hangar and the door opens. "Welcome to Seattle."