THREE

Disclaimer is on my profile, but i shouldnt really have to tell you that i dont own anything but Nora. she's mine

Lizzie blinks slowly against sleep, as she leans back in the supple leather of the Mercedes' back seat. Dembe had led her down the stairs and into the black sedan that was waiting for them right outside the hangar. She was exhausted, but that's what happened when you sat at the bedside of the love of your life and worried about them. It exhausts you, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

She watches as the scenery flies by. Dembe drives them towards the suburbs of Seattle. They soon pull up to a gorgeous house. There was a well-manicured lawn and a stone pathway to the driveway as well as to the sidewalk. A bright red door and red shutters stood out against the white of the house.

"Is she home?" Lizzie asks as they get out of the car. Dembe nods.

"The driveway loops towards the back of the house. She usually parks back there."

Lizzie walks to the other side of the car and gets Nora out of the seat. She pulls the diaper bag onto her shoulder and wraps Nora in her blanket. She takes a deep breath before the two walk up the walkway. She raises her hand to knock, but the door swings open. They both look to see Carla/Naomi or whatever her name happened to be at this time, standing there.

"I've been watching you guys since you pulled up. Agent Keen, I was surprised to see you here. With him," she motions towards Dembe who was keeping an eye out. "I was expecting Raymond."

"That's why I'm here," Lizzie says solemnly. She was trying hard to keep it together, but a tear falls anyway. She wipes it away quickly hoping the other woman didn't see, but she did. Naomi ushers them into the house and leads them into the living room.

"Can I get you two anything?" Dembe shakes his head as Lizzie clears her throat.

"Water, please," she says. Naomi nods before disappearing into what Lizzie assumed was the kitchen. "I don't think I can do this," she whispers to Dembe, laying her forehead onto his shoulder.

He squeezes her hand briefly. "Yes you can. Do it for Raymond, and for your daughter."

They look up to see Naomi standing in the doorway holding a bottle of water. "I didn't…uh…realize you two were…"

Lizzie catches onto what she was implying. "No, no. I love Dembe, I do. But no. Things have changed drastically since we last spoke. Obviously," she motions to Nora. "We are here for a specific reason." Naomi nods. "I need your help."

"My help? Why isn't Raymond here asking for my help?"

"He is incapacitated right now," Dembe tells her.

Naomi looks alarmed. "Incapacitated how?" she asks. "Am I in danger?"

Lizzie shakes her head. "No. You are okay. Ray…he, uh…" she blinks back a few tears. "He's in the hospital. He's…not doing too well," Lizzie shuts down, burying her face into Nora.

Dembe rubs her back and then turns to see Naomi try to smother her gasp. "Oh, you two are…" she trails off. "I thought she looked like Jennifer, but I didn't want to be presumptuous."

"Yes, Nora is theirs," Dembe tells the stunned ex-wife. Naomi could only stare at the little girl in Lizzie's arms. "We wouldn't be asking, but this is life or death. The hospital is facing a blood shortage. I know you don't have the same blood type, but we were hoping you knew how to get in touch with Jennifer. They do share the same blood type."

"I don't know where she is," Naomi tells them before the words were even out of Dembe's mouth.

Lizzie and Dembe exchange looks. "No offense, Mrs. Hyland, or whatever name Ray gave to you, but I don't think you are telling us the truth."

Naomi shakes her head. "I already told Raymond the last time I saw him that I didn't know where she is. When she got old enough to find out what he did, she took off."

"And what did you tell her that he did? That he was a part of something he didn't want to be. That he was a part of something that very nearly cost him his life and almost cost a little girl her life. That he saved the life of that little girl that night. That he came home to you guys one night only to find blood and nothing else. That he mourned for you two, his family, because he thought you were dead. That night in December he went from being Raymond Reddington, family man, to Raymond Reddington Concierge of Crime. My fiancé is in the hospital right now and he might not wake up. What are you going to tell your daughter then? That you let him die because you didn't…" she trails off taking a deep breath. "You might not love him anymore, and that's fine. I understand that. But I do, I love him. I am going to marry him. I will not lose him and I will not let my daughter lose her father."

Naomi looks down, but stays quiet. She didn't have an answer for the agent sitting across from her. She looks at Lizzie who had tears running down her face, while the man next to her rubbed her back, comforting her. "You know what? Forget it. I knew it was a long shot coming here," Lizzie gets up and Dembe follows suit. "If I have to, I will search for her myself. Ray has pictures and he also has a Glen," with that statement Dembe smirks.

"A Glen?" Naomi questions.

Lizzie nods, before hoisting Nora onto her hip. "A Glen. He can find anyone." She marches to the front door and then out to the car. She could feel Naomi's eyes on her as they get into the car and she buckles Nora into her eat. Lizzie angrily wipes the tears off her face as they drive off.

"What are you going to do now?" Dembe asks looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"I am going to go and see Ray first. Get some sleep second. And then, I am going to take the pictures Ray has of Jennifer to Aram to see if he can do an age progression of Jennifer. Then you can take those pictures to Glen to see if he can track her down. It might take a while, but I have faith that he can do this. If he can track down Berlin's daughter, then he can track down Jennifer."

Dembe grins at her as he continues to drive. Lizzie watches as Dembe pulls out his cell phone and talks to Will, telling him to have the jet ready to go. She yawns as they pull up to the jet almost an hour after they had landed. She grabs Nora's seat before walking up the steps and into the cabin.

"This was a waste of time. I should have known she wasn't going to help," Lizzie tells Dembe.

He shrugs his shoulders. "It was worth a shot. I know she cares about him in her own way, but that was just cold."

"I think she knows where Jennifer is, she just doesn't want to tell us. Did you notice how before you even finished what you were saying she just chimed in? Come on, does she think we are stupid or something? I'm an FBI profiler and you are probably one of the smartest and well-read people I know. Ray wouldn't have you as his right hand man if that wasn't the case."

Dembe smiles at her. "Thank you."

"It's the truth."

~*~ TBL ~*~

As soon as they landed back in DC, they headed back to the hospital. To Lizzie's surprise, Samar was sitting outside of Ray's hospital room. "How is he doing?" Lizzie asks.

"From what I can tell, there has been no change," Samar tells her.

"I thought Agent Ressler was supposed to be here," Dembe says looking between the two.

"The man has to sleep sometime. As much as you guys think Ressler is some sort of robot or something, he's not. He was exhausted, so he called Cooper and Cooper sent me. Aram is on next shift."

"Aram?" Lizzie asks surprised.

Samar nods. "Yeah, he volunteered. He said something about firing a gun when the Post Office was compromised and that you would take him to the gun range to help him get better. You told him, that just because he worked the technical…"

"Gadgets that he shouldn't not know how to fire a gun. Because you never know when something like that happens again," Lizzie finishes while nodding. She leans down and takes Nora out of her seat.

"Do you want me to keep her out here?" Samar asks.

"No, thanks. We are not going to stay long. I'm exhausted and she needs to sleep in her crib tonight. We just wanted so say goodnight to Papa. Isn't that right Nora?" she asks giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek and making the baby giggle. Lizzie then walks into Ray's room and takes a deep breath. She moves the chair from where it was halfway across the room to next to his bed. She lays Nora down in between his body and his arm. She takes a seat, then takes his hand. She watches as Nora squirms for a moment before rolling over so she was on her stomach. She picks her head up and grins. The grin drops on Nora's face and her bottom lip starts to jut signaling she was going to start to cry. Lizzie rubs her back in a comforting manner. "Come back to us Ray. We need you. She needs you and I definitely need you. I cannot do this by myself. Please wake up," she pleads. She continues to stare at him, but nothing happens. She lets go of his hand before standing up. She scoops up Nora before leaning down and placing a kiss onto his forehead. "We love you and I will be back tomorrow." She stops at the doorway and then turns back and gives Ray one last look before walking out. She places Nora into her seat before looking at Samar. "Anything changes and you call me. I don't care if it's the middle of the night. You call me."

"I will do that," Samar says nodding.

"What time is Aram coming in? I need him to work his computer magic for me."

"I'm not sure. I just got here not too long ago, so he should be at the Post Office in the morning."

Lizzie nods before slipping the diaper bag over her shoulder and grabbing Nora's seat. She walks out of the hospital to find Dembe standing and talking on the phone. He gets off the phone as she approaches. "Ready to go home?" he asks. Lizzie nods. He takes the seat from her and they walk to the car in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. "How is Raymond?"

"Same," Lizzie says. "Dembe, I didn't ask, but should we be expecting something more from the people that did this? Are they going to try and finish the job?"

Dembe shakes his head. "That's who I was on the phone with. One of our assets. And the guys that did this, well, they think they killed him. So that's good for us. Our asset will keep us apprised if anything else goes down."

"Alright," she says. She lays her head back and stares out at the sights as they drive through DC. They finally pull up to the house and Lizzie lets out a sigh of relief. She pulls her tired body of the car and Dembe follows holding Nora's seat.

Lizzie gets a sleeping Nora out of her seat and slowly walks up the stairs. She lays the girl in her crib before making sure the nightlight and baby monitor was on. She walks out of the room, leaving the door open a crack. She walks down to her room and immediately starts discarding her suit, leaving it on the floor as she went. She would pick it all up tomorrow. She heads to the closet and pulls out one of Ray's button downs. She pulls it on, breathing in Ray's scent finally allowing the tears to fall.

She crawls into bed, breathing in Ray's fading scent from his pillow. Finally letting go.