Annapolis, MD

Red and Dembe had got back to the safehouse after being away on business call in Russia. "Dembe, can you get me a tumbler?" He asked him

Dembe smiles softly at his friend. "Of course, and invite Elizabeth over, it's been a few months since you turned and I can tell that she's trying to figure out what's going on with you." He said being concerned "You don't want her finding out from me because if you don't tell her I will and it's not my place to tell her about your secret." Dembe said

Red sighs "Alright… I'll invite her over after I'm done with my drink." he said to him

Dembe nods "Do you need anything else?" He asked his friend

"No, the drink will be all, thanks Dembe." He said as he reached for the bag of blood that was under his suit jacket. He brought it up and gently tore the bag open without spilling any of its contents. He drank some and waited for Dembe to bring the alcohol back to him.

A few minutes later Dembe returned with the alcohol for him, he set it down on Red's table before sitting down on the leather couch across from him.

Red dumped some of the blood into his scotch to mix it up. He then swirled it around some, mixing it with the scotch. He took a sip of it and closed his eyes as if he never had scotch with blood mixed together before; which he had on many occasions. He sipped it slowly as he was enjoying it. After he finished the bag and the alcohol, he looked at Dembe "Call her." He said looking at his friend

Dembe got up and dialed Liz's number and talked to her for a while. While Dembe was on the phone, Red got cleaned up because he didn't want Liz to figure out his secret before he told her.

About a half hour later Liz knocked on the door of Red's safe house.

Dembe opened the door "Elizabeth, come in. Raymond will be out soon." He said standing to the side letting her come inside the house.

Lizzie walked inside the house and sat down on the couch and waited for Red. She sat on her phone scrolling through old pictures of Agnes to pass the time.

Shortly after Red walked to the living room and saw Elizabeth sitting down on his couch. He took a deep breath before he walked up to her. "Lizzie…" He said slightly, smiling at her as he kept his fangs from showing.

Liz put her phone away as she heard the man call her, she looked at him and noticed he was looking pale. "Red, are you feeling okay? You're pale." She asked as she was worried about him

"Yes, I'm fine Lizzie." He stated nervously as he did feel fine, but she didn't know that he wasn't human…well she is about to find out his little secret.

She looked at him thinking he was lying. "You're lying, what is it? Are you sick?" She asked, worried about him and his well being.

He shook his head "I was but I'm not any more. I'm fine, I really am Lizzie." He looked at her

"You don't look fine Red. I don't need anything happening to you." She was still worried about him as she reached for his hand but missed and held his arm that was covered by his suit jacket. "Agnes and I need you Red. If you need anything just know that I'm here okay." She said to him as if she was serious.

Red nods at her "Well there is something that we need to discuss." he said before sighing

Dembe looked at them "I'll leave you two to talk" He said knowing that they needed to have this talk privately.

Liz looked over at the man "Dembe, where are you going and why aren't you staying?" She asked being curious

"I'll be in the other room and you and Raymond need to have this conversation privately." He said before walking to the spare room, is where he stays when Raymond is using the safe house.

Once Dembe left the room, Liz looked over at Red. "What is going on and don't tell me it's nothing."

"Dembe was right… we did need to have this conversation privately." He looked down and sighed before looking over at the woman he had feelings for "Did I ever tell you I went to Paris a few months back?" He asked as he looked at her

She looked at him in disbelief "No, you never told me. What were you doing in Paris? Were you doing business, or meeting an old girlfriend?" She asked, being slightly jealous as she didn't want him to think that.

He looked at her blankley "Just business, that's all Lizzie. It was definitely only business." He told her the truth. He didn't want to tell her what actually happened right now.

She looked at him, "That's it?"

"Partly."

She looked at him confused "What do you mean? Tell me what the hell happened Red." She said still wanted to know what exactly happened.

"I was meeting an old friend who stabbed me, she then kidnapped me. She almost killed me by draining my blood supply. What I didn't know was that someone she had working for her couldn't let me die and saved me in the only way possible." He said which was most of the truth

Liz looked at him bluntly "Who did this to you and who saved you? How did the person save you Red? Was it a blood transfusion?"She asked curiously

He looked at her "Not exactly a blood transfusion."

She looked at him oddly, "What the hell is going on Red!?"

He sighs, "You may not like what I'm about to tell you."

"Red, what is it?" She asked, still curious about him.

He reached for her hands to take. "Hear me out all the way before you respond okay?" He said

She nodded as she held his hand, noticing his hands were ice cold. "I promise."

He looked at her "I'm not sick anymore; I'm… I'm… I was turned into a vampire by the nurse that she had hired to take me out. After a few minutes of me begging her to keep me alive; that was the only way it was possible." He said telling her the truth

Liz looked at him oddly "Why not just die?" she asked

"I'm not ready yet to die Lizzie, I need you in my life." He said and smiled at her softly.

She looked at him "Red you don't have control over when you would die. You could've died but instead you sold your soul by begging this supernatural creature that was disguised as a nurse to save you." She said basically to understand what had happened for her own good.

Red looked away knowing she was right. "Yes…. I have things that can not come into light; if I did die it would've and you would be harmed over it. So if selling my soul meant saving your life then so be it. I know you won't see or understand now but maybe someday you will."

Liz looked at him trying to wrap her head around why he would do it. 'Why would I be in danger? What other secrets does he have that he's not telling me?' She thought to herself as she watched him more before she responded to him. "I-I don't know what to say." She lied to him as she had so many questions for him. She knew that he would never give her answers for them; or tell her only a sliver of what she would need to know.

He looked at her "You don't have to say anything but listen." He went to grab her hand

Liz shakes her head "I have to go pick Agnes up from school…." She said so that she can deflect him at the moment. She needed to get out and process everything.

Red looked at her knowing she was lying but he had decided to play along with her. "Sure, whatever you have to do. Tell Agnes I said hello." He said before he got up.

Liz nodded and got up. "I will for sure. She loves you." She said, smiling at him, 'She loves you more than I do.' She looked at him as she thought to herself not knowing that he could read what she was thinking.

Red gives her a fake smile "I know she does and I love her too. Please stay safe for me." He said still worried about her.

Liz walked over and grabbed her jacket from the chair and then looked at him again. "I will and you don't have to worry about it."

He nods looking at her. "When can I see her next?" He asked curiously

"Let me see what we have on the calendar with her and then I'll let you know." She smiled at him genuinely

"Alright, take care of yourself until I let Cooper know that I have a case. I'll be seeing you soon Lizzie."

"Indeed, take care of yourself. You know there's people out there that have no idea what you are. Just watch your back." She said before she walked towards the door as Red followed her.

"I will and I'm well aware that not everyone knows that I have turned." He said before opening the door for her. "Take care; Lizzie."

"You as well Raymond." She said smiling as she left the house.

Red watched her go to her car and start it. After she took off down the street, he shut and locked the door. "Dembe you can come out now." He called for his friend as he made his way back to the kitchen where the blood and scotch were.

Dembe walked out and looked at his friend. "How did it go?"

"She was pissed at first when I told her how the turning happened. Also I think she's scared, after I told her she made an excuse about Agnes needing to be picked up, which was a lie. She acts like she's uncomfortable around me." He explained everything as he could to his friend.

Dembe looks at him and nods "She probably is scared for your well-being. Just give her some time to come to understand fully what has happened to you. She'll come around." Dembe said as he walked around to his friend and squeezed his shoulder lightly

Red grabbed a glass and poured both blood and scotch into the tumbler. He drank his scotch as he didn't know how to feel about Lizzie.

Washington DC

Once Lizzie got back to her house, she entered inside where Donald was watching Agnes. "Thank you for watching her." Liz said, smiling at him.

Ressler looked back "No problem Liz. How's Reddington?"

"He's fine, he said once he finds something out he will have a new case for us." She slightly told the truth.

He watched Liz "So he's giving us a little vacation to catch up on paperwork? Is that what you're referring to?" Ressler asked, trying to understand what she was saying.

"Yes I guess that's what he means. You know how difficult it is to comprehend what he's talking about from time to time."

Before Ressler could respond to Liz, Agnes ran to the room. "Mommy!" She cheered happily when she heard her mothers voice return into the apartment.

Liz knelt down and hugged her daughter kissing her cheek. "Hi baby, I heard you were good for uncle Ressler."

Agnes nods and giggles softly at her mother who was only gone for about an hour; but to the child it felt like forever.

"What would you like to do now baby?" Liz asked her as she wanted to spend the rest of the day with her daughter.

Agnes shrugged her shoulders as she didn't know what she wanted to do.

"I should get going." Ressler said looking at them watching mother and daughter interact with each other.

Liz looked at Ressler "Are you sure?"

"Yes, enjoy the day with Agnes." He said genuinely to them.

Liz nods "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow at work then; Ress."

Ressler went over to them and knelt down to hug Agnes. "I'll see you soon, be good for your mom." He smiles at the girl before looking at Liz "Indeed, I will see you at work in the morning. Have a good night Liz, if you need anything just call me."

Liz nods "Sure," she smiles softly at him as she watches him get up from his knees.

"I will be Uncle Wess." Agnes said cute as she couldn't pronounce his name but he found it was cute that she was trying.

Liz looked at him and said, "I gave her up for a speech session starting next week."

Ressler nods at Liz before standing up after giving Agnes a hug. "Thank you for letting me watch her, since Tom left."

"No problem Ress, other than the Taskforce and Reddington; I don't trust anyone else to watch her for me."

"You would let Reddington watch your kid?" He was surprised that she would.

"Yes, only under supervision by Dembe or myself." She explained to him

"Well that makes sense then. Enjoy the rest of the day with Agnes." He said, smiling at them both.

"Thanks and I will."

Ressler went to the door and walked out, shutting it behind him. Once he left; Liz turned off her phone and spent the rest of the day with Agnes. She didn't want any distractions; if anyone needed her they knew where to find her. She wanted to have a tea party or watch movies with her daughter in peace. Anything Agnes would want to do for the day, Liz would allow it. Agnes had all the choices of what to do, and eat for the day even though Liz probably will regret the food choice part but it was only for one day. In her line of work she's never promised the next day with her daughter, she would want to make memories with Agnes as much as she could.