Red leaned on the trunk of Ressler's car looking at the gathered crowd. He frowned at them, wondering what it was about 'tragedy' that called to people. And where the hell had they come from?

It was an eclectic bunch. Men and women in business suits, teenagers, parents with a stroller.

Meeting the eye of more than a few, he made a quick game of their interest in him. Staring at them until they inevitably looked away.

While nosy, people would forget what made them uncomfortable. The chance of seeing a dead body in a bag would make great story telling to their friends over the next day. A man in a three-piece suit that made them uncomfortable, would be forgotten by the time they made it down the block.

"Scaring the tourists?" Lizzy asked as she approached.

"It's sad, Lizzy." he pouted, "I'm number four on the Most Wanted list. My face is plastered in Post Offices across the world and no one recognizes me."

She patted his shoulder consolingly. "Take heart," she opened her notebook jotting down her notes, "they may think you're in police custody."

Red scoffed before snorting.

"Or, even with the substantial reward on your head, the danger of getting involved with you just isn't worth it." she finished writing her notes then looked at the man.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better. " he dismissed airily. "Speaking of which, you have a little color back now. Do you feel better?"

"I don't know what you mean?" she lied convincingly. When she had seen the condition of the body, it had turned her stomach.

Red had sought a trash can had she needed it, but was in a quandary. How to find one without contaminating the crime scene. He had been proud when she had pulled herself together, continuing her work in a professional manner.

"I don't know how that didn't bother you?" she practically accused.

"I've seen some of the worst mankind can do to one another, Lizzy." he readily explained, "Adults," he dismissed entirely, "they did something to get in their predicament." Red's eyes narrowed and turned ice cold, "Kids on the other hand... then you'll see emotion."

Elizabeth Keen shivered involuntarily. The man did not have to finish his thought.

"I can honestly hope I never have to experience that emotion coming from you."

He thought maybe she meant that as a put down, the way it had been said, but then he realized that she didn't want to ever see it because it would mean a child had been hurt.

"I hope you don't either." he commiserated.

"Keen." Donald approached gingerly.

"Yes?" She turned to him, taking the file he held out. "What's this?"

"Statements from the people who found the body." Ressler settled his hands on his hips, turning to Reddington, "You sure you don't know him?" he asked Red yet again.

"You can keep asking and I'll keep telling you no, I don't know... " Red stopped, turning his head slightly, as though listening for something.

"What?" Liz picked up on the change in the man.

The man hesitated for a long moment, "Carver's here." he spoke brusquely. "He's watching us."

Ressler was more than annoyed, "How can you know that?"

"It's called intuition. I haven't survived twenty years without trusting my gut." Red's tone sharpened, not suffering idiots easily at this time. "I'm telling you... he's here."

She hesitated to look, "In the crowd maybe?" she had picked up on his tone.

Red shook his head sharply, "He's behind me, I can feel it."

"This is ridiculous." Ressler snapped, "Now we're relying on your Spidey sense."

Red took off his hat, scratching his head moving to the car. He threw his hat on the trunk casually. "Switch positions with me." he instructed quietly, taking her vacant spot slowly but surely.

He focused on the two Agents, "Talk casually amongst yourselves." They stared blankly at him, and he sighed deeply, "Something. Anything!" he exasperated instructions. "The pets you had as a child, new apps on your phone . . . Ressler's love life. I need to look bored."

Liz narrowed her eyes at Red, then perked up a bit. "How is your love life Ress?"

"Better than yours." Ressler shot back.

"Score for Donald." Red mumbled as he casually scanned the area.

"Hey! I only recently got divorced you know." Liz defended herself.

"You never did tell us how that date went, Donald." Red leaned into the car, crossing his arms. He schooled his features into the most put upon expression he could muster, tilting his head up, looking at the roof tops.

"It went fine!" Ressler replied heatedly.

"Doesn't sound like it to me, does it you Red?" Liz snickered.

Red shook his head 'no' in complacent camaraderie.

"We have plans this weekend, just so you know." Don preened. "We're going – "

"Second building back. Rooftop." he said succinctly, then focused, setting his eyes to a short distance away. "Don't look, you idiot." Red warned Ressler tightly.

There it was again. A slight movement on the roof top, two buildings back. Blocking out all other vision, his eyes centered on that dark shadow. Then he saw the glint.

Scope. His mind screamed.

"Gun!" Red grabbed Liz, shoving her behind the wheel well of a nearby police cruiser, covering her with his own body as Ressler dove behind his car.

Seconds later there was a pop, then a whistling fizzle in the air before a bullet smashed into the gravel where they had been standing, followed by another.

Ressler snapped out commands to seal the area. The crowd panicked, running amok, trying not to become targets. Cops and agents scattered, hiding behind anything of use, weapons drawn.

Red heard the crunch of tires driving over gravel, nearing their position.

"Stay low, lay down on the seat." he urged Liz forward, having turned her around, shielding her with his body. The car came to a stop alongside Ressler's vehicle. Red had a perfect shot to the now open backdoor.

Dembe's low velvet voice came out of the night, "Raymond."

"Get in the back." Red commanded.

"I can't leave." Liz protested, pushing back at his insistent hands.

"Where the hell are you two going?" Ressler demanded.

Red grabbed her arm, pushing her roughly. "You're going!" Red barked as a bullet hit the ground closer to their position, spraying them in a fine mist of dirt.

"Go Keen!" Ressler yelled at the pair as the bullets grew closer. "Get out of here!"

Red peered over the car, watching as the lens moved upwards.

He's reloading. His mind clicking into gear.

"Get down." he hissed, his palm cupping her head. The shot that followed tore through the bumper of the car they were hiding behind.

"Go!" Red dragged her beside him, crouched over her small body. "Now."

She moved up over the bottom door frame, climbing into the back.

Red crawled in after her, his body covering Liz's smaller body completely. He glanced back checking on Ressler's safety.

The young man was well hidden and safe for the moment. Red pulled the door with his foot, just as a shot hit the passenger window.

The car lurched forward, slamming the door closed. The tires threw gravel as they made their getaway.

A block down, Red put his leg into the floor board, then raised his chest off her back. "You can sit up now."

"I thought you said he wasn't after you?" Liz caught her breath, pressing her rib cage.

"You all right?" he gestured to her torso.

"Yeah, seat belts aren't comfortable when they dig into your chest." she squirmed aimlessly about. "You didn't answer me."

"I don't think he's here for me specifically."

"Well, someone was shooting at you." she reminded.

"There's a running bounty on my head. Maybe he thought he'd get lucky and collect on it?" he pulled his phone from his pocket. "For all you know, he could have been aiming for you."

"Me?!" she squealed breathlessly. "What for?"

"You're just as popular out there as I am." Raymond reminded. "The Fulcrum, Lizzy." he sighed lightly. "Do you not listen to me? What you have is priceless. There are a couple dozen groups out there willing to kill, well, you, just so they can get their hands on it."

She fell silent, thinking for the first time that what he had been saying was true. She had always just assumed that he had wanted the Fulcrum for himself. And maybe he did, but he wasn't going around gunning for her. If anything, he had gone out of his way to protect her.

He could have just killed her, ransacked her belongings and taken it. But he hadn't.

Why? She asked herself that on a daily basis these days.

"Cooper." Red spoke into the phone. Liz leaned over, straining to hear the conversation.

"Is Keen all right? Ressler said your car had been hit." Cooper's voice held his consternation. He missed being out in the field, seeing the action first-hand.

"She's fine." Red looked the woman over, assuring himself that she was fine.

"Ressler said the shooting stopped when you two left." Cooper was grateful for the little things in life these days.

"I expected as much." Reddington shifted, pulling his jacket down in the back.

"Tell me where you are. I'll send a couple of men to bring Keen back to the Blacksite? We'll make sure she's sa–" Cooper took charge, as was his way.

"No, she'll come there when I bring her in and she leaves when I do. I'm not letting her out of my sight unt–"

"They want her debriefed. Find out if she's noticed anybody following her."

"Don't you think she would have mentioned that?" Red shook his head when she opened her mouth. He didn't think this had anything to do with Tom, so there was no reason to mention it. Not in his world at least.

"They think it would be better to separate you two, in case this has something to do with your business ties."

"That is not going to happen."

"I told them that. So they said that a safe house with rotating guards, maybe they'll catch this Carver character with a twenty-four-hour watch." Cooper tried reason. "She's become a valuable agent and they want to protect their asset."

"She was already valuable." Red snapped peevishly. "Who are they? Who said?"

"Tom Connolly's people, for one."

"I'm sure he did." Red stated sarcastically. "It's not happening."

"Damn it, Red. They aren't going to be happy about this." Frustration poured off the man. "At least let me give you a detail, maybe it might appease them."

"The FBI's protection detail is bullshit." In Red's humble opinion. "We'll be just fine on our own."

"They're going to insist."

"Then you tell them that if they can find us, they can put as many people on us as they like." He snapped the phone shut, tossing it out the window.

"What did Cooper say?"

"Shut your phone down."

"Why would he say that?"

"Shut off your phone." He sighed. She pulled her phone from her pocket, powering it down.

"Now, what did he really say?"

He repeated most of the conversation.

"What else did he say?"

"Cooper's higher ups want to know where we are, give us a battalion of men in FBI jackets and ear pieces, see if they can catch Carver. Like that won't draw attention. The idiots."

"Maybe we should... " She stopped when he looked at her, just begging for her to finish her thought.

"All they'll do is keep him from coming at us."

"Isn't that kind of the point?"

"Generally, it's easier to catch someone when they're in the same vicinity as you."

"What now?"

He leaned his head back into the headrest, closing his eyes. "I think I might have an idea about what to do tomorrow."

After a quiet night at Red's place, where he had spent a good hour on the phone making plans, a time and place had been arranged to meet Edward Costa.

They had headed to the Post Office the next morning, with Liz going to her office and Red seeking out Cooper.

"No, Harold!" Red shook his head, adamant. "You and your storm troopers can't go. You all scream 'cop'." He stated the obvious. "I've just got Lizzy to transform out of cop mode. I don't have time to deal with the whole team." The man disdained. "I sure as hell can't make Ressler suave in three weeks, let alone three hours."

"I don't think it's a good idea to go in alone." Cooper stated.

"It's a party, Harold." The agitated man tapped his hat against his knee. "Not a drug deal."

"What about Agent Keen's safety? She's walking into a den of criminals." It was subsequently pointed out. "Who's to say something won't go wrong?"

"You know, contrary to popular belief," Red rolled his eyes. "We don't whip out our guns the minute someone walks in a door. This isn't Chicago in the 1920's." Both men fell silent, upset. "Although, I do hold a certain fondness for that Era."

"Harold," Red compromised as much as he ever would. "Because of my invaluable tutelage, Agent Keen has become quite capable maneuvering in the underworld." He narrowed his eyes at the man, "Stop discounting her so quickly." He insisted. " Besides that, Dembe will be there. I'll be there. And you know I won't let anything happen to her."

The black man reclined into his seat, thinking. "All right, she can go. But you watch her."

Red nodded, aggravated. She was going regardless of what Harold said. "Sure, and I'll have her home by curfew."

A discrete knock interrupted the conversation. "Come in." Harold called out.

Liz breezed into the room, sipping her ever present coffee. "You wanted to see me, sir?" She smiled in Red's direction as an afterthought.

"Agent Keen." Harold broke the news gently. "I hope you have a little black dress on hand."

Liz scrunched her face, grimacing. "Eh...yes, sir." The woman immediately glanced suspiciously at the man to her right.

Red frowned back, a little put out by her attitude. He thought they had been getting along well lately. Maybe he'd been wrong?

"Your assignment, is simple. You're to stay with him or Dembe the entire night." Cooper dropped into his 'Task Force Director' mode. "Observe, listen, stay quiet. Let Red work his angle."

The woman looked decidedly uncomfortable and confused.

Red sighed loudly, dropping his head into the wall before standing and walking away.

"Yes, sir." She frowned as Red swept past her, watching his back as he left the room. "Is there anything else?"

"Reddington will give you all the pertinent information." Harold waved her off.

Liz, who had waited for the dismissal caught up to Red as he walked down the corridor.

"Red! Wait up." She shuffled quickly up to him, "Where are we going?"

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, Lizzy."

She pointed back to his office. "But, Cooper said... "

"I know what he said." Red interrupted. "But, I can get all you need and deliver it later." He decided with finality. "You won't leave the Post Office until I get back, understand?" He scolded. "Especially with Ressler, because basically... he's an idiot."

"You don't want me to go?" She frowned.

"You didn't look like you wanted to go." Red stated.

"No, I want to go. It was the thought of heels that I didn't like."

"Excuse me?" Relief washed over Red.

"My feet are killing me," she lifted her foot, showing her new boots, "breaking them in."

Red felt a little lighter than he had a few short moments ago, when he thought she hadn't wanted to spend the evening with him. "Wear short heels, go barefoot. I don't care."

Liz nodded, thinking it wasn't such a bad idea. "So what's this thing we're going to?"

"I'm going to reconnect with some associates and I'm hoping to get a line on Carver and his whereabouts."

"You think he'll be there?" she shivered involuntarily at the thought.

"No. Not his kind of crowd." Liz looked confused, so Red explained. "The closest he'll come to wearing a tux is if it's printed on a t-shirt."

Liz snickered at the mental picture. "So it is black tie?" She pouted.

"Afraid so."

"Wait, Red. I have to get a dress! That 'black dress' I mentioned is hideous and I need to feed Hudson and get ready at my place ... all my stuff is there but... "

"Breathe." He instructed, slightly amused. "Take Samar and Dembe with you." He had it figured out already. "As a matter of fact," He pulled a card out of his wallet, handing it to her. "Go here. They'll put you in a private room which will be easier for Samar and Dembe to cover."

She flipped the card, vaguely recognizing the dress shop name. "Don't you need Dembe?"

"I need to speak to Cooper about something important." He ignored the question. "Tell Dembe I'll be there at seven."