Red's eyes opened slowly, the sun bathing the room in a cheerful light. He stirred slightly, grimacing as the pain in his shoulder and leg made itself known.
He lay back carefully, then chanced a look at the clock. A little after eight. He was usually up around six. Damned pills...
He glanced at his bed partner who was still fast asleep. Elizabeth would never be a morning person. The covers were tossed every which way. Most of them wrapped around her body.
The dark hair was splayed against the pillow, the pretty profile snuggled into the blankets, half hidden.
Red looked down at his own body, which was only partially covered. He lay very still so as not to disturb the woman's sleep. His thoughts wandered back to the night before.
Liz had taken the news he had to relate a hell of a lot better than he expected. She had even cuddled to him before falling asleep. Which surprised the hell out of him.
He had not expected that she would stay. Let alone be receptive to any sort of intimacy. Red had been amused when the woman brought up the 'date thing'.
A date for which he had no concrete plans... as yet. Although, ideas were taking shape, quickly.
He found himself looking forward to such a simplistic event. He was grateful this morning to be alive. Quite a contrast to some mornings when he awoke. Before Elizabeth, he could remember awaking in a very different mood.
The man arose quietly, making his way to the bathroom.
A short time later, he heard the door open over the shower spray which pelted his skin to a rosy red.
Ahh... the man smiled, replacing his soap unto the ledge, Sleeping Beauty awakens.
He rinsed off, grabbing the towel off the low bench before drying off the excess water from his body. He tucked the damp towel around his waist, exiting the stall.
The woman was brushing her teeth, blue eyes meeting his in the mirror. He smiled at her, a little self conscious concerning the scars but instead of heading for the closet as he was inclined to do, he forced himself to come stand alongside her.
To make himself feel less awkward, he busied himself with finishing his morning routine.
Liz closed her eyes as the sensual whiff of his cologne drifted into the misty spray, which still clung to the air after his shower. She shifted her eyes to the man, noting the deep slit in the small towel he had tucked around his waist.
A muscular thigh peaked out tantalizingly, the reddish blonde hair very masculine in it's appeal. She rinsed her mouth, trying to concentrate on something sophisticated to say.
She stood, her satin robe gaped open, showing the beginning swell of her breasts as she was leaned slightly forward. Red pulled his eyes from the beautiful sight, determined to keep things on an even keel this morning. After last night, he wanted everything simply to return to normal, as quickly as possible where the woman was concerned.
His first instinct had been to comment on such a lovely vision, but he had kept his mouth shut, forcing normalcy.
Liz flicked his body again, this time her eyes remaining transfixed for a goodly spell. She leaned her hand on the sink, the other placed to her hip as she made herself comfortable, facing him fully.
"Not that I'm complaining, because you always look so good in what you wear." she hadn't even tried not to say it. "But why do you feel the need to cover up..." she waved her finger up and down his form, "all that."
The man halted his busy work, his head swiveling to the woman. "Pardon?"
"You've been hiding that under those suits all this time?" She held her grin, blatantly flirting with him.
He glanced down his torso, making sure he was properly covered.
"I understand why Lexa asked you to 'visit' her." her eyes traveled his frame speculatively.
The man was momentarily confused by her approach and then he wasn't.
"Lizzy, you don't have to make me feel better. I've made peace with the scars... for the most part." It was nice of her to try to make him feel better, but to go out of her way to lie...
"I wasn't talking about that, you dolt." she bristled suddenly.
"Then what the hell are you talking about?" Red asked just as shortly.
"Is that how you identify yourself? By your scars?" Liz questioned. "Is that all you see when you look in the mirror?"
"Wouldn't you?" The man snapped.
"Maybe, I don't know." It was answered honestly.
She knew she felt horrible after the Carver incident.
"Well then, I guess that answers your question."
"But maybe I wouldn't..." she reconsidered the issue.
"Oh, and why is that." Red was more than skeptical, disliking the turn of the conversation immensely.
"I'm a woman, and all I noticed as you walked out of the shower," she cocked her head slightly, her expression benign, "was that you have a great body."
Red's expression slipped a tad.
"So if a man said the same thing to me, I would hope that maybe, I would believe, that I had been placing too much emphasis on the negative which was shaping what kind of person I had become."
Red wasn't buying any of it.
"And who said it?" she questioned, almost flippantly. "Chicks dig scars."
"There's scars and then there are scars, Lizzy." the man was beginning to get a little angry. "Forget the back, you saw how damaged the rest of my body is." he gestured curtly.
"All I see right now," She replied cheekily, "is one hot guy."
Reddington sighed heavily, shaking his head, his mood dropping considerably from moments ago. "I don't need you to pretend..."
"Raymond Reddington, I am not feeding you a line of bullshit." she tossed the hand towel aside angrily. "You're hot, plain and simple. Either accept the compliment or don't."
Liz turned away, walking stiffly to the closet.
Red stood, frozen to the spot. For a moment he was unsure of what action to take. Obviously, he had hurt her feelings, essentially called her a liar because that was what he believed her to be, but now...
He debated his options, then followed her steps slowly.
He silently watched as Liz yanked drawers open, pulling out her lingerie for the day, before slamming the drawer shut. She grasped a shirt, pulling it off the bar, sending the hanger flying.
The man ducked the projectile's course as it barely scrapped his injured shoulder. He drew in a cleansing breath, man enough to apologize when the need arose.
"I'm sorry..." He swallowed gently, clearing his throat.
She said nothing, not ready as yet, to forgive and forget.
"I'm sorry." He repeated, stepping closer, barring any exit route she might intend to take.
She dropped her head, squeezing the clothes in her hand tightly, "I don't lie." She kept her gaze averted from his, her voice low and intent. "I'm tired of lying, liars." she amended quickly.
He stayed silent, waiting.
"I can see beyond the façade and know that there's more to Red Reddington than what people see." She stated stoutly. "You are generous and kind and incredibly patient." she practically stamped her foot. "You're charming and handsome and incredibly stupid at times, like any man." She disgusted.
"There's more to you than those scars, Red." she poked him hard in the shoulder that wasn't injured. "I see it. Me, of all people. Why can't you?" she spat.
"I haven't received a compliment such as yours," the man had taken a minute to reply, "or one that wasn't backhanded at least, in such a long time, I forgot what sincerity sounded like."
The woman digested all the man had said, her mood lessening.
"In a woman's mind, Red," she tried to explain, "we never feel good enough. We constantly worry about our weight, our hair, the way we present ourselves to the world in general." Liz knew she wasn't putting it correctly. "Don't think for one second I don't understand what you're trying to say. I do, I swear."
Red knew women were often self conscious about their bodies. Never feeling attractive enough.
"I want you to feel, at least around me," Liz was suddenly aware that the man still stood before her in nothing more than a slip of a towel. She tried very hard to keep her eyes level with his, "you can be yourself. You can relax and get comfortable... be comfortable."
The man shifted his eyes thoughtfully and all Liz could think at the moment was that he had very sexy feet. She had been glancing down, around, anywhere but where she really wanted to look.
"Okay." she exasperated, trying to extract herself from the situation gracefully, "so what's this?" she motioned to his upper bicep because the area had caught her wayward attention.
He dipped his head absently, looking at what she was poking at. "A tattoo."
"I know what it is." she exasperated. "I mean, I saw them before, but..." she waved her hands about aimlessly. "Tell me about them."
The man's scowl increased. "What do you want to know?" he was a little taken aback by the turn of conversation.
"Well, this for example," She traced her finger over the classically depicted mermaid intertwined, sitting on an anchor, which graced his upper left arm.
Leaning closer, she took in the fine details. How the wispy hair waved around her body, baring one breast, the other covered under the dark silky drape.
Her fins, dancing in the water, floating, tickling at the bottom edge of the anchor she was wrapped about. The intricate detail of each and every scale on her tail was amazing. She was actually very lovely.
Delicate features, small pretty breasts not overly done as so many men were apt to do, muted colors. This was done by a true artist, worthy of being put to canvas.
"First year Navy." his eyes roamed his 'old friend', a secretive smile touching his lips. "We were all drunk, of course. My shipmates chose something about the Navy. Flags, skulls and crossbones. I wanted something a little less... traditional." Red lifted amused eyes, "It's a way we have of bragging but still reminding us of what we had achieved at one time in our life."
"And this one?" Underneath the mermaid, only slightly smaller in size, was a ship's wheel fashioned into a Victorian compass. A long spindle pointed north to the mermaid. Again the inner detail of the compass face was amazing. The sixteen point star in the center pointed to every imaginable direction, the fading, making it look three dimensional.
"Done by the same man when we got back from our first tour." It had taken Red weeks to track the man down. "It can be taken a couple of different ways, I suppose. A sailor looks for the northern point or is always looking for a lady."
"And you are...?" she queried tongue-in-cheek.
"Looking for the beautiful woman." He indulgently supplied.
"This one?" Red brought his right arm forward, glancing down at the two snakes, wrapped in the symbol of infinity, eating one another's tail.
"Done in Japan. Traditionally, the Ouroboros is one snake eating it's own tail, representing a renewal of life for eternity." she was informed. "I'm a representation of two different people. Raymond Reddington, the man that had a family and Navy career. And Red Reddington, the criminal. Two distinct personalities in one man, destined to eternally reinvent himself." He grinned at his own folly.
"This one?" She pointed to a small flower in lilac, the letters JR underneath in flourishing script. "Aren't these flowers normally blue in color?"
"A forget-me-not." his tone mellowed as did his eyes. "Her favorite color was purple, lilac specifically." there was a softness to his tone Liz had never heard before. "She called it baby purple."
"Jennifer Reddington." Liz placed her hand on his chest, kissing the small flower softly. He inhaled sharply at the gentle touch for it was totally unexpected.
"Baby purple?" she smiled.
"Baby blue, baby pink." he chuckled slightly. "It made sense to her that it would be baby purple."
"You can't argue with that reasoning." Raising up, she inclined her head towards his, pulling him down to her, kissing his lips softly. "Thank you for sharing that with me."
They stood there, silently wrapped together in a comforting embrace long enough that her leg started aching, but she wasn't about to say anything. It felt good to be held. It felt good to know a little more about the truth. To know more about Red.
"Raymond?" Dembe's voice called out through the suite.
Red deflated into her. "What?" the man bemoaned his lot in life.
Liz chuckled quietly, hearing Red's pitiful whine coming from her neckline.
"Jackson's on the line."
"I don't care." He mumbled into her neck.
Patting his head condescendingly, Liz called out from the confines of the closet to the waiting man. "Tell him Red will call back shortly."
She stepped back, openly ogling him. Which he had to admit, was something he hadn't experienced in a while.
"It's a shame you can't go around like this in your everyday dealings." She smiled offering another scan of his body, hesitating visibly on the bulge under his towel. "You'd probably get better discounts on your shipments."
She was being honest. She liked how he looked. Very much so, if the way she stared at him was any indication.
"Hussy..." He hugged her close, grinning when she giggled. "I have to dress, so go shower," He stepped back, reaching for the towel, "Or you're going to see a lot more than you bargained for."
She stood rooted to the spot, her expression almost petulant.
He lifted enquiring brows.
"I'm thinking!" She grinned impishly.
"Well, you better think fast, sweetheart." He reached for the towel, pulling the knot.
The towel dropped on one side, allowing her a quick glance of the top of his groin, "No!" She squeezed her eyes shut hastily, her hands lifting of their own volition as she searched aimlessly for the door.
She was still giggling in a fine spirit as she exited the area. "I want to be surprised." she called back over her shoulder.
Surprised?
What the hell did that mean?
He watched her, mesmerized as she stripped down completely, seemingly not a care in the world before she climbed into the shower.
A slow smile spread across the man's handsome face.
He now understood completely her parting remark.
She had not seen him in his entirety before.
When she finally did see him naked, she wanted it to be on her own terms. She wanted the intimacy to be finalized to her satisfaction.
A day he hoped fervently was fast approaching.
AUTHOR NOTES: We know James Spader/Red has a distinctive tattoo, but seeing that this is an AU, we decided to have a little fun and play with his character. Hope you don't mind...