Chapter 3: Even You

"Did you call him?" Harold Cooper leaned back in office chair, still mulling over the fact that they'd received a lead from a presumed criminal. Gavriil Volkov claimed to know where to look for Elizabeth Keen. Convenient that he share this information when he was being detained.

"No." Ressler pinched the bridge of his nose. No one had seen Raymond Reddington since Elizabeth had disappeared. After several terse phone calls, more than one of which ended in a threat of some form, Reddington had gone off the grid. They'd heard whispers that he was still active but his business associates vehemently denied having seen him. Not surprising as Ressler was sure Reddington would have made sure no one breathed a word about his movements.

"Telling him would put Mr. Volkov's health at risk." Ressler nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. A nervous habit he refused to acknowledge. "But you can't deny that Reddington would be effective in gleaning any information he may not want to share."

"Giving him over to Reddington would be effective." Ressler looked out the window of the office into the primary operating space of the Post Office. Aram had been rearranging the same stack of papers at his work space since they had walked Volkov in. "We'd also never see him again. Reddington isn't going to cooperate with us."

"Not without her." Harold inhaled deeply and pushed the case file forward on his desk. The disappearance of Elizabeth Keen had remained a top priority regardless of the many directives they'd received over the years contradicting that fact. All they had to go on was the fact that Agent Keen had disappeared over the course of two hours. Ressler hadn't been content to wait for her to return and had followed her to Winter Harbor. He hadn't been able to raise Keen on her cell phone and several dock workers had denied anyone asking them questions. Ressler knew that her being two hours ahead of him, Agent Keen would have spoken with at least some portion of these people. His phone calls became frantic and after driving around the small town, he'd turned up nothing. A team was called in as soon as he'd called Cooper. He wasn't sure at what point Reddington had been told or if he even had but it wasn't long before he'd shown up.

Raymond Reddington had been a quiet force of fury in the chaos that followed. After days of interviewing and reviewing the few security cameras in the area, not one single person in Winter Harbor had seen Agent Keen. Ressler wasn't present when Reddington had walked away but he'd never forget the look of horror on Aram's face when he'd returned to their make shift center of operations. Whatever had been said left Aram visibly shaken but he refused to speak on it. Two weeks passed and they were ordered home. Other assignments required their attention. The fate of one agent did not outweigh the needs of the country.

Weeks turned into months and months to years. They continued to monitor contacts for anything related to the case or mention of Agent Keen's name. For several moments neither of them moved and the weight of what Volkov could offer them hung in the air. Cooper stood and walked out of the office as if the devil himself had called to him. Ressler followed behind but was well aware that his superior would be interviewing Gavrill Volkov alone. Before they were able to enter the interrogation room, the elevator doors opened and movement in the main floor of the Post Office stopped. Ressler gripped the railing on the staircase, not entirely believing what he was seeing.

For the first time in more than three years, Raymond Reddington stepped into the heart of the Post Office.

A/N: It's been a long time since I've spent time on this because I'd lost a bit of the vision I'd had for it. Knowing ahead of time how it would in made laying the ground work for that a little daunting. So after months of writing, deleting an entire chapter, and starting again... here is chapter three. I hope to have another chapter up in the very near future. Thank you for reading!

Review are appreciated.

UPDATE: Not sure what happened the first time I posted chapter 3. Hopefully the issue has been resolved.