Hours later, after they returned to the mansion, matters finally got back to normal.
Liz went to take a nap because leaving the baby had drained her emotionally. On the other hand, her anger over how Red had been treated, had bolstered her spirits in spite of the sadness she had experienced.
Red knew she was emotionally and physically exhausted and was glad when she finally went down, listening to the dictates of her body for once.
He stood for a moment in the darkened room, watching her sleep, his own mind finally at rest, then went directly to his office.
The first thing on the agenda, was to check the mail. Shuffling the stack, he finally found the one thing he hoped would not be there.
Reddington was at the Blacksite today. But then, so were you. Guarded by his security,
of course. He's certainly doing everything he can to keep you under lock and key, isn't
he? What was he thinking, loading the responsibility of caring for an infant on you when
you're still injured. I have to confess, you look natural with a child. Perhaps, maybe we can
have one to call our own. Liz, keep believing.
"Like hell." Red mumbled as he read the latest letter. If anyone was going to get her pregnant–
Red jerked in his chair, unsure where the hell that thought even came from.
He chastised himself severely for such a lapse. But filed it for the moment, more important issues at hand.
He thought of her the way a man thought about a woman, yes. And most definitely wanted to share his bed with her, more intimately than he all ready was, granted.
That little moment yesterday, when he had kissed her goodbye... when she'd been playing with Sam. That was a sweet memory that he found most palatable.
But that... getting her pregnant, had come completely out of left field.
It had never once crossed his mind. Perhaps it was a hold over from baby Sam or it could have been that fucking last line of the letter he now reread.
The thought of this person touching her, agitated him. This whole business was aggravating him, truth be told.
Plus, he was still upset that he had not been informed that Liz was going to visit the Blacksite.
Had he known, he would have taken the proper precautions and in doing so, perhaps he would have been able to ferret out this creepy son-of-a-bitch who was obviously watching her every move.
Every day he walked into the Blacksite, he felt out of sorts, something was off. There was nothing concrete to which he could apply his theory.
Which was pissing him off, royally. He had pinpointed Carver so easily that night... he had felt the danger, sensing the brush of death.
He and Death were old friends by now.
Most people feared that Entity. There were times in the past, Red welcomed it like a source of comfort. The man pulled his thoughts back to the present determinedly.
He was looking right past this stalker which was so unlike him. The fact that Elizabeth would most likely pay for his distraction, was totally unacceptable.
"You rang?" Silas popped his head around the door, interrupting his wool-gathering "Oh, you got another one?" He gestured to the paper in Red's hand, his tone off-handedly neutral.
"She did and it mentions her arrival at the Blacksite and some other interesting little tidbits." Red frowned, tossing the sheet over. "Did you notice anybody lurking about?"
"No, I didn't." the large man scanned the neatly typed print, before returning his attention. "But then, I was too worried about you cutting my balls off for aiding and abetting her."
"Not this time." Red snorted lightly. "But I have a long memory."
"So, you want to increase her security?" Silas asked politely, glad to pass over the other subject.
"I want every building in at least a block radius to be manned." Red handed over an updated photo of Tom taken by Dembe the last time they saw him. "The Blacksite is to be considered a hot spot."
Silas scanned the photo, then let it dangle loosely from his fingertips. "And if we find our little double agent?"
"I want the bastard caught and held... so I can beat the hell out of him."
"It's going to be difficult to throw together a team on a whim."
"No it won't, because there aren't going to be anymore of these unexpected side trips like the one you two made." Red lifted a cold glance.
"When she wants to do something–"
"She can wait." the words held a finality.
The guard was visibly impressed. "Oh, she can wait." Silas tone said it all. "And she'll go for that?" he smirked. "And you are the one who is going to deliver this news?"
"I'm going to have a talk with her, make her understand why this needs to be done." Red went back to shuffling the mail on his desk. "She may disregard her safety, but she won't yours. Besides these letters scare her."
Red returned the latter to his files.
"It's nice to be so highly thought of..." Silas scratched his cheek slowly, trying desperately to keep his grin under wraps.
"It's that high regard that she has for you, that's keeping your people and you... alive."
A loud crash interrupted the conversation.
Both men rushed from the room, even before they heard a muffled shriek coming from down the corridor.
Red smacked the door open to the bedroom, getting a big surprise when the door swung heavily back, almost hitting him directly in the face.
He poked his head quickly around, noting a heavy potted plant blocking the entrance.
Silas had pulled up short, almost crashing into the man's bulk.
Red put his entire frame against the object, pushing past the obstacle. His heart skipped a beat, sensing the woman was safe and unharmed... for the moment.
But all hell was breaking loose in the room.
Hudson had somehow gotten into the area, which was normally not allowed for one reason and one reason only.
Keres the cat stood on the bed, haunches lifted, head down, attack mode in progress.
The dog pranced happily back and forth at the foot of the bed, squishing Elizabeth's feet, having the time of his life, making the cat's life more than miserable.
Red noticed under the covers, a hunched form giggling and moving every which way, in order to avoid the commotion taking place directly over her.
"Help..." Elizabeth giggled deliriously, her voice muffled under the blankets.
Hudson dove forward, almost but not quite reaching the cat... who in retaliation, scratched the hell out of the poor dog's nose.
Hudson whimpered momentarily but soon enough regained his momentum, his agenda resumed... which was, in Red's humble opinion, to kill the cat.
While the man could sympathize, the shambles of the room was something he simply was not going to ignore.
Silas' throaty laughter coming from behind him, reminded Red of his mission.
"Son of a..." Red grumbled, stalking over to the bed, swatting at the rowdy animals, "get out of here, you little bastards."
Keres jumped, avoiding the large hand, running smack into Liz's head, which had poked out momentarily from her hiding spot.
The woman gleefully laughed, resuming her former position.
Missing the cat by inches, Hudson ran into the same spot except he decided to sit and rest a spell.
Liz's laughter increased as she staunchly attempted to remove the dog's butt from her blanket covered face. Which only made Silas double over, joining in the fun and melee.
"Some fucking bodyguard you are." Red grumbled, wrangling the cat, avoiding yet another deep scratch on his forearms. "Take this fucking thing and drown it in the lake."
"We don't have a lake, boss."
"Then fucking find one."
Silas took the cat good naturedly, "Come on poor baby." he crooned softly. "Let's get you away from this grumpy old bastard."
"Excuse me?" Red's tone dripped ice.
"Let's get's you away from this understandably disgruntled gentleman." Silas corrected silkily.
"Hudson!" Dembe stepped through shambles, calmly beckoning the dog.
Hudson snapped to attention, running over Liz to get to Dembe which increased the muffled giggling even more so.
Red walked over, holding the door ajar, his look saying it all.
The room was hastily vacated of both human and beast. The man released a heavy sigh, closing the door firmly, before finally unearthing the amused woman under the blankets.
Red glanced at her stalwartly, sitting next to the woman, before smoothing the disheveled hair from her face. He smiled affectionately at her infectious giggle.
"Nice nap?" he enquired.
Red had visited the Blacksite, later that afternoon. It had been a productive operation. The bottom line being, all the children including baby Sam, were safe and sound after such a harrowing interruption in their young lives.
Red picked up his hat, ready to take his leave but was waylaid by the computer specialist.
"Mr... uh... Reddington." Aram stuttered as he normally did when addressing the imposing man.
"Yes, Aram?" he answered pleasantly.
"The ballistics came back from that bullet you gave me and uhm..."
"Yes..." Red drawled patiently.
"It was government issue."
"Whose weapon?" was the question of the day.
"Uh, that they aren't sure of, uh, sir."
"Why not?" Red was fast losing patience.
"Well, they had it narrowed down to the type of weapon, well, really the–"
"Aram."
"The bullet's gone missing."
"From here?" Red pointed, pointedly.
"Well, no. They don't think so anyway." the young man had begun to sweat. "It, along with some other evidence, was being transported to the lab to help with the backlog and sometime between here and there - it vanished."
"Was that the only item to go missing?"
"Uh..." Aram turned to his desk, rifling through papers until he pulled out the one he wanted. Handing the sheet to Red, he pointed to it. "As you can see, there were quite a few things missing from the manifest pertaining to the raid you went on with Agents Navabi and Ressler."
Red scanned the sheet, finding the statement to be true.
So it could have been O'Brian's men tainting the evidence against their boss. It could have been an oversight, a large one and not unusual when dealing with the government. It could have been Tom, being the sly weasel he was very adept at being.
Or they had a rat in their midst.
Any of the options were plausible.
It was also plausible that while it had been government issue, it could have been a case of friendly fire, all most gone horribly awry.
In one of the letters, the writer had taken credit for the shot in the back. This guy was a highly delusional man, needing accolades for a shot he probably hadn't actually delivered.
The stalker was obviously trying to impress Elizabeth, though it had failed to kill Reddington.
That the man had supposedly taken the opportunity in her honor, may be enough to feed his twisted ego.
Too many questions and not one damn answer. Not even a hint of one, left Red annoyed.
"What about the copies of the data they did get off the round?"
"It was on the truck." Aram said, rolling his eyes at the stupidity.
Red shook his head disgustedly, "Thank you, Aram."
He didn't know why he bothered.
These people routinely took the 'I' out of FBI.
His gut had said to take the bullet to his own people for analysis, but had the round been a Fed's, Cooper would have to be involved at some point. So he decided to cut out the middle man and cut to the chase.
A decision he was very much regretting at this point.
In trying to please Lizzy, by doing things by the book, he had lost a lead to her stalker. And it pissed him off to no end.
He clung to the notion that it could have been a friendly fire incident.
It had been rather chaotic that night. The shot could have come from a couple dozen agents he'd come to know in his time here... or even Ressler's weapon. It would have been an accident.
Something he'd hang over Donald's head until the end of time, but written off and forgotten.
But what if it hadn't been?
Granted, he knew of a dozen places where you could get a Fed issued gun. It wasn't inconceivable that one of O'Brian's men had tapped him.
But then again, one of them wouldn't be writing to Elizabeth boasting of the fact.
And if what the letter said was true. That man, a man with a government issued weapon, had purposefully shot him in the back with the intent to kill.
Red scanned the room and the Agents it held, vowing to listen to his own gut from then on.
"Mr. Holbrook is here." Silas informed over the communication device... "I'm sorry."
"Well, excuse me!" Liz smiled widely at Francis' rejoinder. "What am I around here? A fucking leper?"
She rolled up off the yoga mat, grabbing her own radio. "Stop being mean Silas. Let him in."
"Red here?" the young man came around the corner, jauntily flipping off the guard who had been so 'mean' to him.
Elizabeth ignored Silas' hearty laugh, "He went out to run an errand, but I expect he won't be long, if you'd like to wait." she pointed to a chair. The young man collapsed in the chair, groaning.
"Well you look rough." she observed.
"Maybe, but I'm still pretty." he gave a lopsided grin. "You're fiancé really rocked the boat, and while it's been enjoyable watching everyone scrambling," he nodded agreeably, "one must remember that I have to have eight full hours of beauty sleep if I want to keep looking as good as I do... and really, who does not want that?" he was confused.
"Is it calming down any?" she wanted to get things back on track.
"Not particularly. But Red was right, it's shaken things up pretty good," he brightened considerably, "in fact, it might have helped the business. No matter what anyone says."
"I don't understand?"
"You know when the holidays come along and production slows?" She nodded, knowing even at the Blacksite, they all hoped, that whatever case came in, was cut and dry, little paperwork. If only for the promise of time off.
"Well, it's like we've been on some extended holiday. It was just a bit... stagnant." he corrected sagely. "Boring, I guess."
"And now it's not?"
"No, it certainly isn't." he brightened again. "I haven't seen the routes or production of supply running so smoothly in a long time."
"But you implied people are not happy?" Liz was puzzled.
"Some of the older cronies are pissed. Anne, definitely." he rubbed his hands together gleefully. "They are set in their ways, which is fine, but they have to understand supply and demand are at an all time high." he motioned slightly. "And if no one is working to fulfill their end of the deal... people are going to pay for it with their lives."
She still didn't quite understand the process, but maybe it didn't matter. Francis obviously didn't mind explaining until she got it.
"Back in Capone's day, if someone in New York wanted a shipment of liquor, it was just accepted that it would take two days for delivery. Live with it." he elucidated. "The truck could only go so fast with contraband on board and the drive was long." he rolled his eyes for such a system. "Now, with the advent of jets, faster ships, and what not. Two day delivery just isn't acceptable on most supply."
The woman listened intently, truly interested.
"Fed Ex has nothing on Red." the man crossed his arms leisurely. "He freaks me out sometimes," again, he nodded sagely. "I think on purpose."
"What do you mean?" She laughed.
"I was in Canada a year ago and needed a cache of weapons, pronto." he motioned with one hand. Elizabeth realized the man spoke volumes with his hands.
"I told Red as much over the four minute phone call I had with him and by the time I was crawling into the back seat of the car, bending over to kiss my ass goodbye... "the man frowned hard at the remembrance, "I got word that my cargo was on it's way to the meeting place... damn show off."
The conversation was momentarily interrupted as the still beautiful woman entered the area unannounced as was Nora's way these days. Nora now felt comfortable in her surroundings and with these people.
Elizabeth beseeched the older woman forward.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Holbrook." Nora smiled, seeing the man, hesitating visibly to interrupt anything important.
"Nora, my love." Francis immediately stood, closing the space between them, taking the woman's hand in his warm palm. His thumb rubbed hers in an overly familiar fashion, his eyes suggestively running the length of her attractive figure.
"How many times have I told you..." he scolded superficially, lifting the warm hand to his lips.
The woman permitted such familiarity, her eyes filled with a gentle humor. "Francis," she corrected herself immediately, "I see you are just in time for lunch."
"Oh, goodness." Francis laid his hand over his chest in mock surprise, then looked wide eyed at Liz. "Am I?"
Liz exchanged prudent glances with her cook. "Gee Francis, would you like to stay for lunch?"
"Well, now. I wouldn't want to intrude." he returned his attention immediately to the other woman, whose hand he still held captive.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Liz hobbled forward awkwardly, halting when no assistance was offered. "Francis?" she enquired pleasantly.
The man's attention was still riveted, "Yeah?" he answered offhandedly, again lifting Nora's hand to his waiting lips.
"You want to help me with the crutches here?" Liz asked civilly.
The man sighed heavily, reluctantly releasing his prey. "Oh when are you going to get better?" he asked peevishly.
Walking over, he bent unceremoniously, lifting the startled Elizabeth over his shoulder. "Which way Nora, my love?" he asked solicitously.
Elizabeth had squealed her shock before hitting the man's shoulder playfully. "Put me down, you idiot."
Francis sniffed at the delicious aroma filling the air, ignoring Liz all together.
"Yes, you idiot..." Red's voice, laced with annoyance, also suddenly filled the air.
Elizabeth compressed her lips tightly to conceal her need to laugh right in Francis' face. She waited patiently now, for the fireworks to begin.
"...Put... her... down." Reddington finished frostily.
"Oh like this is my fault." Francis was instantly on the defensive. "Where is her cart... do you know where? I'll tell you where!" he sat Elizabeth down decidedly, steadying her in the process, his attention focused entirely on Red Reddington.
"Those guards you hired, especially that one, that looks like an overgrown gorilla..." the young man warmed to his tale, "they have the cart. And do you know what they're doing with it? No, you don't know..." it was smugly declared, "they are putting on stickers that say obscene things that a person can do when alone in the privacy of their own room." He sought comfort in Nora's understanding eyes. "What kind of people do that?"
Nora shook her head sadly, in empathy.
Red walked over, handing Elizabeth her crutches. "Do you have a death wish?"
"My psychiatrist thinks so, yes." Francis shrugged carelessly. "Was there a point to the question?" the man was truly at a loss.
Liz patted Red's shoulder sympathetically. "I think you're going to lose this one, honey." she sympathized. The endearment alone served to nullify Red's mood.
"Yeah, and anyway, you're in the way here." Francis griped, "lunch is ready." he navigated himself around Red, walking purposefully into the dining room.
Red bit the inner part of his jaw, his fingers drumming slowly along the tightening muscles of his thigh. But in the end, he let it go, to Liz's great amusement.
Francis called over his shoulder, a perplexed look on his face. "Did you guys see that woman on the news today?" he queried. "They found her wandering around some State Park in New Jersey... spouting off about someone kidnaping her and leaving her stranded."
Red glanced away, his expression blank.
"The idiot... all she had to do was turn around and look at the lights of the city." he pulled an endearing grimace. "How do you get 'lost' in New Jersey?"
"I did see her, actually." she nodded conversationally. "She looked so familiar for some reason." she sought Red out for some sort of confirmation.
"Maybe she just had that kind of face." Red shrugged off the topic. "Lunch is getting cold."
It was about two hours after lunch before Liz saw the two men again. Francis was on his way out and Red seemed in a good enough humor now.
"Again, thanks for lunch." Francis said, tapping the door with his fingers, paused to exit. "What time is dinner?" he asked innocently.
Red closed the door in his face. Liz chided such an action. "Red! Why did you do that?"
But on the other side of the door, she had heard laughter, "So, like seven?" the young man obviously could not resist the taunt, before she heard retreating footsteps and more laughter.
"How long had he been here?" Red asked, watching the woman's face carefully.
"Oh, I guess about thirty minutes before you came home. Why?"
"No reason, just wondering." Red said. "Did you have a nice visit?"
"I did actually. He helped me understand how your business works." she rolled up her yoga mat, stowing it under the couch. "It was interesting."
A discrete knock interrupted anything more he would have asked. Red opened the door, expecting to find Francis on the other side.
Joe sat there patiently, having driven Liz's cart from the garage.
"Didn't mean to interrupt, boss. Just wanted to get your cart back to you." the man arose, motioning accordingly.
"What was wrong with it?" Red enquired.
"Battery connection was fried." Joe reported. "New battery and she was as good as new." It was pronounced proudly.
Red's eyes narrowed at the man, for he had been searching the cart meticulously for some seconds now. "And this?" he pointed out the newly acquired bumper sticker which read:
I have sex daily, I mean dyslexia, Fcuk!
Joe looked innocently about, shrugging his massive shoulders. "I don't know nothin' boss."
Red just stared at him.
The man became a little uneasy. "It was Silas, boss."
Red dropped his head slightly, his look one of amazement.
"Okay! So I caved." Joe muttered, unhappy with himself, clearly. "I don't want to lose my balls."
Red exhaled slowly, "Leave." he advised menacingly.
"Thank you, Joe." Liz called out after the quickly retreating man.
"Anything going on at the Post Office?" she quickly changed the subject, watching the man guide the cart into the room. She tried not to notice the new bumper sticker. She tried very hard.
Red shrugged, "Still the same tension." he walked over, taking the seat beside her. "Samar can be wickedly funny when she cuts you off at the knees."
"So Moore is still being a jerk?" Liz smiled.
"I don't think he knows how to be anything other than that," Red surmised, "with women especially."
"So, he's old school, 'boys' only', mentality." Liz shrugged. "They were at Quantico. If you can't handle them, you can't handle the bad guys you come up against." How many times had she been confronted with such men. "She'll be fine."
"Oh, she's more than fine." Red reassured. "I think she's starting to enjoy knocking him down, every chance she gets, more than she thought she would."
"And he doesn't give it back to her?"
"He tries, but fails miserably." Red glanced around for a cigar, finding none. "As I said, she can be quite cutting, when she wants to be." he settled back accepting his lot in life. "It's like watching a live action play, unfolding right in front of me. I even spontaneously applauded her quick wit a time or two."
"I'm sorry I'm missing it." she winced, glancing critically down at her person.
"What's wrong?"
"I feel grungy." she suddenly did. Perhaps it was the fact that Red spoke so highly of Samar. Who really was a beautiful woman and now the man had evidently noted the dark beauty's other virtues as well.
"Have a sponge bath." he suggested.
"You know what, I think I will." she pushed off the couch, moving to her cart, disappearing from the room.
He sat in the quiet of the room, thinking back over the last few hours.
To the outside world, to Francis, she was his fiancée. But that didn't mean things didn't change, even in his world.
Liz had seemed perfectly comfortable in the younger man's company earlier, finding amusement in Francis' quick wit and charm, as most women did.
They even looked good together. Both young, energetic, eager. Excited still by the world around them.
There was something going on there between the two of them, an easiness...a camaraderie, that had taken Red two years of careful handling and patience to achieve. Francis had managed the same status quo in two short visits.
They might not see it yet, but Red did.
While it might be... awkward for a while, he couldn't and wouldn't begrudge her or even Francis a chance at something vital, if it came down to it.
They both deserved happiness, even if it meant they were together to do it and Red was left out in the cold. It was not as if it was a place he was unfamiliar with.
He'd watch and act accordingly, no matter how much it hurt.