A/N After Red locks her in, Lizzie begins to have serious doubts about his motives. She had absconded with him without thinking, without question, never discerning his true motives in wanting to take down the Cabal, and never asking what his plans were for her. More angst and some violence - a darker version of Red in this chapter - you've been warned. Disclaimed as ever. Reviews make my day :-)

When he entered her room the next morning with a breakfast tray she was already awake and dressed, sitting with her legs tucked under her on the window seat overlooking the lake. She turned to look at him as he placed the tray on the dresser.

"Did you lock me in here last night?"

He gestured at the tray. "Fresh coffee, croissants, eggs, and some of those delightful strawberries that seem to be thriving in the greenhouse. How are you feeling this morning?"

She continued to watch him intently, like a cornered cat assessing its escape routes. "You haven't answered my question" she said.

He turned to look at her square on. "Yes, I locked you in. Now you answer my question. How are you feeling?"

"Why did you do it?"

"I think you know why, Elizabeth" he said quietly. "Now please tell me how you are – any pain or trouble breathing?"

"Breathing is fine. My chest hurts a little." She hadn't taken her eyes off him.

"That's to be expected. I'll bring you something for the pain after you've gotten some food inside you." He walked towards the door and turned back as she spoke.

"Are you going to lock me in again?"

He tilted his head to the side and looked at her but didn't respond.

She held his gaze for a moment before turning back to look out of the window.

She waited until she heard the key turn in the lock and his footsteps on the stairs before moving over to the breakfast tray. She wanted to leave it, to show him he couldn't control her, but she was ravenous. She needed to get her strength back – she had a feeling she would need it for what was coming. Her breathing was ok, but the truth was she was in terrible pain – he'd almost definitely cracked a rib performing CPR and it hurt like a son of a bitch.

The breakfast was admittedly delicious. He had clearly taken care over it, but that wasn't nearly enough to quell the suspicion that had been building in her since she had tried to go see him the night before and found the door locked. She'd wanted to tell him she hadn't gone out to the lake with the intention of hurting herself – she'd just been so scared, so shocked. She'd just needed to feel something different for a second. She hadn't known the water would be so cold. She just wasn't thinking. She'd wanted to ask him what the plan was to rescue Cooper. She'd wanted to tell him she was afraid, and that she loved him. She wanted to tell him so many things.

But since that moment in the dark when she realised he had locked her in her mind had sprung into overdrive. At first she had felt confused; maybe the door was stuck, or perhaps she was more badly injured than she'd thought. Soon enough she realised the truth of what he had done; he had locked her in and her feelings changed quickly from confusion to frustration, followed by a growing sense of foreboding.

Her uneasiness was deepened considerably by their exchange in the morning. His behavior had been strange - distant and formal, checking up on her and asking questions like a doctor might to his patient. When she'd asked about why he was keeping her there he'd given one of his classic non-answers that reminded her of the old Reddington, the one she hadn't trusted back in the days when her world still made sense.

He returned an hour later with two pills and a glass of water which he handed to her. As she reached up to take the glass she couldn't help a small whimper escaping her lips as a bolt of pain shot across her chest when she moved. He frowned as she gulped down the pills.

"As I suspected. You're in rather a lot more pain than you let on, aren't you?"

She gave a small shrug.

"You've likely sustained a fractured rib. It will heal on its own - the medication will help with the pain but you should get plenty of rest." His tone was alarmingly dispassionate, as though she were a stranger.

She nodded slowly. "Ok. And after that I'll come downstairs with you?"

She saw his face twitch fractionally. "You need to recover and I have some business to take care of today."

"You're leaving?"

"No, but I have several calls to make."

"What calls?"

She could detect him getting annoyed, although his tone remained neutral. "Elizabeth…rest now."

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This pattern continued for the next week; he kept her locked in her bedroom, bringing her meals and pain medication and watching while she took the pills. Aside from the few minutes she had with him when he brought her food, he left her completely alone with nothing to do but read or sleep. Each time he came into her room she tried asking him about Cooper and what his plans were regarding the Cabal, but he remained evasive and distant, telling her it was being taken care of. She had thought that if he was angry about what happened at the lake he would soon become less distant with her, but if anything his behaviour towards her had grown colder.

He seemed to spend as little time as possible with her, and when he did see her it was perfunctory, his expression unreadable as he asked her questions about her health. She soon learned that it didn't matter whether she claimed the pain in her chest had lessened, he still insisted she continue the pain medication. The pills were strong – too strong for someone of her small size. They practically eliminated her pain, but made her groggy; most of the time she felt swathed in a blanket of lethargy which left her unable to think straight. After the fifth day she stopped taking them, securing them under her tongue and hiding them in a drawer after he left.

Although the pain returned, it was less severe, and certainly preferable to the haze in which she was living while she was medicated. She felt her mind sharpening and she began to turn everything over in her head. It was then that the grim reality of her situation really began to sink in, a feeling of creeping horror which only became more profound the more she thought about him. Much as on some level she had felt safe and secure in their house on the lake, she was now starting to feel like his prisoner. How strange it was that a simple turn of a key, or a question evaded could turn him from protector to jailor.

Here was a man who had turned her life upside down. A dangerous criminal who killed to get what he wanted, manipulated her and kept monumental secrets from her regarding her own life. She had absconded with him without thinking, without question, never discerning his true motives in wanting to take down the Cabal, and never asking what his plans were for her.

Worse than that, she had fallen in love with him. Even as she began to grow fearful of his motives, she was haunted by the memory of his touch – he had elicited the greatest pleasure from her that she had ever experienced. She thought of the way he had held her, tasted her, setting his own pace and deliberately manipulating her body into giving him the responses he wanted until he chose to allow her release, increasing the pressure of his fingers and tongue the perfect amount to send her spiralling over the edge.

She blushed when she thought of it, this time remembering not just the exquisite feel of his hands and tongue on her, but also his reluctance to touch her, his restraint, and then his emphatic insistence that their sexual relationship had to stop. She was a profiler, trained to look for patterns and to read people, and what she saw in him troubled her greatly. It was guilt, and it didn't make sense given that she now knew it had been she who had killed her father and possibly even he who saved her that night. No. It didn't make sense, unless he felt guilty about something he was going to do. He'd never told her what he was doing to help Cooper. In the end she always came back to this: she'd never asked him what his plans were for her.

By the end of the week she had formulated an escape plan. She had to get out of there, away from Reddington, get to Ressler and clear Cooper's name once and for all. She got up early and packed a bag, which she hid under the bed. Once she was done, she took her position on the floor, clutching her chest, and waited for Red to come in with breakfast. As she'd predicted, as soon as he saw her he moved swiftly to her side.

"Lizzie, what happened, what's wrong?" His achingly deep voice was urgent, but still calm. So very Red, she thought.

"My chest" she gasped "it hurts so much"

"Ok, take a deep breath for me… and again. Good. What kind of pain is it? Like before or sharper?"

"I'm ok, I can breathe, it just hurts more than usual today."

He nodded and reached for the pain meds he'd brought in.

"No, please Red, do you have something stronger? Please?" Her eyes were wide and swimming with tears. A truly Oscar worthy performance, she thought to herself.

"Of course, I'll be back in a minute." He looked genuinely concerned and just for a second she felt guilty.

Just as she had hoped, he left the room leaving the door open. Seizing her moment, she grabbed the bag from under the bed, crept to the door and then down the stairs, grabbing keys from the box in the hall. Hands shaking, she tried the keys in the lock of the front door, and pictured herself driving away in the jeep they had stowed in the garage of the property.

As she undid the lock, her heart thumping, she actually thought that she was going to make it. She hadn't heard him come downstairs behind her, and yelped with surprise and fear as she felt his strong arms wrap around her.

"It seems you've made a remarkable recovery" he growled in her ear. There was something in his tone that chilled her and she tried to twist out of his grasp. His grip tightened and he tutted at her. "Would you like to tell me what you think you're doing?" She could feel his breath on her ear as he removed the keys from her hand.

"I have to go back" she said breathlessly. "I can't do this – I can't stay here while people are dying and Cooper is rotting in prison because of me, he's just got his life back and I took it away from him. You know if there's a chance I can clear his name then I have to do it!"

When he didn't let go she tried again to wriggle free but his arms tightened again across her chest causing her to cry out in pain.

"Elizabeth stop struggling, you're only hurting yourself." His tone was flat. Resigned.

"Let me go!"

"I can't do that. You're not thinking clearly. You almost died last week. You are weak and in pain and you need to stop and calm down –if you go back now you will be in terrible danger and it won't help Harold."

"Ressler will - "

Red scoffed, cutting her off. "You think Captain America will help you now?"

"He helped me escape" she said defiantly.

"That was before you took it upon yourself to kill the Attorney General of the United States" Red practically hissed in her ear, shocking her into stillness for a moment. She didn't understand him – how could he be so cold? She'd told him why she'd done it – for him. Because she loved him.

Still in his iron grasp she began to cry, great shuddering sobs that she couldn't control despite being desperate to remain strong. "Red, please understand I have to go. It's the only way I can live with myself. Please – you're frightening me."

Finally he relaxed his grip on her, positioning himself carefully between her and the door, before locking it again and turning to face her.

He looked pained, and frustrated. "Elizabeth use your head. This is exactly what they want you to do – they arrested Cooper to draw you out. You're playing right into their hands."

"Red-"

"You will not be leaving" he snapped. "Accept that."

Everything about him seemed to have changed; his tone was clipped, his demeanor cold…he had hurt her. Her fears were becoming horribly real and she could feel the panic building insider her. She was his prisoner. "What the hell is going on here? Answer me! You manipulative fucking bastard – I can't believe I trusted you!" She was shaking and she felt fresh tears slip down her cheeks. "You can't stop me – this is my decision and I will find a way to get out of here!"

His expression had darkened as she had begun to yell, and before she had finished he had grabbed the med kit from where he had tossed it on the side. She watched as he removed a small, pre-filled syringe from a case at the back, her heart racing.

"What are you doing?"

"It's something to calm you down" he said quietly.

"I'm fine!"

"Oh yes of course you're fine" his voice dripping with sarcasm. "After your performance last week I don't know if you're going to turn yourself over to the Cabal or just kill yourself and save them the trouble."

She gasped, breathing hard for a second while she processed what he had said.

"Red I didn't…just stop a minute!"

He stepped towards her and she tensed, ready to defend herself. "Lizzie please don't make this more difficult than it has to be."

"You expect me to make this easy for you?!" She took a step backwards. "Please don't do this, Red please".

She looked into his eyes imploringly, but they seemed empty, set with singular purpose. She lashed out in an attempt to knock the syringe out of his hand, but he caught her arm with ease, pinning it behind her back before pulling her flush against his body. A second later she felt a sharp sting in her neck and her limbs felt so heavy, her vision blurring. After that there was nothing but darkness and his smell, which she found oddly comforting as he lowered her gently to the floor.

TBC