Chapter 1

Dembe was driving the car in silence through the dimly lit streets. It was very early and still a bit dark outside. Red and Liz were sitting in the back of the black Mercedes, both looking out of their windows, also in silence. Dembe looked in the rear-view mirror, trying to make eye contact with Red, but Red was avoiding Dembe's stare on purpose. Dembe noticed the huge space between the two of them and shook his head so slightly it was barely noticeable.

Red knew all too well that Dembe had had enough of the whole situation they were in. He also knew that his brother disapproved of the way he was treating Liz but he just couldn't help it.

After what Liz had put him through, first with wanting to remarry Tom and then faking her own death, he couldn't just get past that and pretend nothing had happened.

Red let out a deep sigh. His eyes for the first time actually taking in what they were seeing, while looking out of the window. He had just been staring blindly, sunken deep within his own thoughts, but now he noticed that they weren't going where they were supposed to go, which was a warehouse just out of town, to meet an associate. They were driving towards some warehouses, but not the one in which they were supposed to meet.

"Dembe, where are we going?" Red asked, softly but sternly.

"A different warehouse. The other one was being watched"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I got the phone call only seconds before leaving. The warehouse we're going to now will be a secure location"

Red looked at the back of Dembe's head suspiciously. Why hadn't he told him that the location had changed? He frowned but had no time to say anything else, because the car had already come to a stop.

They got out and Red looked around. He recognised the location and felt himself relax a little. Nothing wrong with being too careful I guess, he thought, before putting on his fedora and walking over to the steel door. He let Dembe open it and have a look inside first before actually setting foot inside himself. He held the door open for Liz and walked in after her. They still hadn't exchanged a word since getting into the car over half an hour ago.

"Dembe, where's Antonio?" Red asked, walking over to his best friend.

Dembe walked backwards towards the door "He isn't here. There's no one here, Raymond"

Red raised his eyebrows, looking at him questioningly, demanding an explanation.

"I am tired of the way you two treat each other and you need to talk. It's long overdue", he said, trying to explain his actions as he opened the door, "I will be outside" and with that he closed the door behind him.

He heard Red call his name and after a few moments he heard Red bang his fists on the door, telling him to let them out.

Dembe knew all too well that this could turn badly for him if Red wanted to, but he felt like he needed to do something and that's why he'd come up with this plan. The two of them drove him mad and he was fed up with it.

"Dembe! I know you can hear me. Let us out, now!"

"Not until you've talked!" Dembe shouted through the door.

He backed away and leant against the hood of the car. It took a few more shouts and bangs on the door before Red went quiet. Dembe smiled to himself. This was a small victory. Now let's see what happens next, he thought.

Red and Liz were standing inside a big space with no way out but the door Dembe had just locked behind them. They saw two chairs and a table with some food and beverages on it and an old sofa against one of the walls.

"I can't believe he just did that", Liz whispered, not at all in the mood to talk to Reddington. Deep down she knew they needed to talk, but she'd wanted to wait until everything had calmed down, when she had Agnes back and her life back on track.

She heard Red curse under his breath and looked at him for the first time after getting on the road. He looked stressed and angry, although he had looked like that most of the time lately, she concluded sadly. She felt a stabbing pain in her heart, knowing that she was the cause of it all.

She went to sit down on one of the chairs, her arms folded across her chest. Why the hell would Dembe do this? This wasn't going to work, was it? They obviously didn't want to talk but now that they were here, they might as well.

She watched Red pace back and forth in front of the door, a frown on his face and his eyes fixed on the floor. He was probably thinking of a way out, Liz thought sadly.

She tried to get her heartbeat to slow down. She rarely felt nervous around Red anymore, but since their reunion, their relationship had been strained. Her faking her own death had changed the bond between them that they'd so carefully built up over the years. A bond that Liz desperately wanted back.

She cleared her throat "Ehh. Red, why don't you sit down?"

Red kept on pacing like he hadn't even heard her, so she tried again.

"Red, please, can you…"

"I heard you the first time!" Red snapped at her, lifting his gaze to meet her eyes. His eyes were dark and dangerous and Liz held her breath instinctively, nervous about what his next action would be.

But there wasn't any. He just stood there, looking at her for a long moment before looking back at the floor again.

Well, at least he'd stopped pacing, Liz thought, slowly letting out the breath she'd been holding. Her mind was racing, trying to think what to do or what to say that would make him come and sit down to talk.

Just when she'd opened her mouth to ask him again to sit down, he slowly started to walk towards the other chair across the table from Liz and took a seat.

Liz sighed heavily again "Look, I know this is not the way it should happen, but now that we're here we might as well talk, right?"

Red just sat there, his elbows resting on his knees, his fingers entwined, almost like he was praying. He was trying to calm down because with the fury he felt inside it would be impossible not to scream at Liz. He knew they should talk but it was so damn hard for him. Even just looking at her felt like he was being torn into little pieces.

He shakily took a deep breath before saying, "Fine, what do you want to talk about?" He just wanted to see what she would say. In the meantime, he would have just a little more time to think about how to say all the things he had on his mind.

"Well, I want to start by apologizing... I'm so sorry, Red. I never meant for this to happen"

Red had intended for Liz to tell her story before he would jump in but hearing her say this made him mad as hell and he leapt out of his chair so fast that it fell backwards and landed on the floor with a loud bang that echoed through the open space.

"You're sorry? Really?" he laughed out sarcastically, mocking the words Liz had just said, "You never meant for this to happen? Well, that's not quite right, is it? You never meant for me to find out! You wished you and Tom had succeeded with your conniving little plan and were now living happily ever after in Cuba!" he spat.

Liz sat there, staring open mouthed at Red, listening to him spilling these words. She'd seen him angry before but never like this. She wanted to say something but decided against it when she saw that Red wasn't anywhere near done.

"Well, now that Tom is gone it's easy for you to say that you're sorry" he sniffed, glad that that bastard was finally out of their lives, "But you wouldn't be saying that if you were sunbathing in the Cuban sun right now"

"Have you even thought once of what this might do to me? Or to your colleagues and friends? How this would affect all of us? I doubt it! And then to drag Mr. Kaplan into this on top of it all! To turn one of my closest partners and dearest friends who's been with me for decades, against me!"

Red was fuming now and was pacing again, only this time in front of the table and at times he would look directly into Liz's eyes to emphasize his words.

Liz could tell that underneath his anger he was hurting and it made her tear up. She knew he was right, that she had been selfish. Even though she'd done it all for Agnes, she should've known better than to run off with Tom. She should've run towards Reddington instead of away from him. But it was done and all she could do now was to try and fix things between the two of them.

Red continued, "How can I ever trust that woman again? She lied to me, watched me suffer and never even said a word!"

"It's not her fault, I asked her for help" Liz finally said something. She felt she owed it to Mr. Kaplan to defend her and try to make Red see that she can still be trusted and can still work for him, "She did it for Agnes"

Red had stopped pacing and looked at her, "She should've known better. She should've known that I was the one protecting you instead of endangering you. Of course my life and business is dangerous but you forget that you're in danger just because of who you are as well!"

Liz looked at her hands. They were sweaty and hot and she wiped them on her jeans. "I just don't want you to be angry with her, it's not her fault" Liz whispered.

She looked up and saw Red swallow hard. She wasn't sure what he was thinking right now; he was hard to read these days. He was staring at the table, next to where Lizzie had just put her hands.

"I don't know if I can ever trust her again. She's like a stranger to me now" Red said, calmer now, but still with anger and disappointment in his voice.

"It will take time, but she deserves your forgiveness, Red. Much more so than me" Liz said softly, desperately wanting to clear Mr. Kaplan's name.

Red walked back to the chair, picked it up from the floor and sat back down. He leaned over and put his head in his hands.

After a few minutes of complete silence where you could've heard a pin drop, Liz decided she wanted to get something off her chest as well.

"You know what, you're not the only one who's angry here. All the times that you hid the truth from me and lied to me. Saying that my father was dead and hey, look at that, he miraculously turns up!"

Red slowly looked up and looked at her, desperation and slight annoyance in his eyes, "I've never lied to you, Elizabeth"

"Then how do you explain all this, huh? You keep saying that Kirk isn't my father but I have memories of him and now I have a DNA test to prove it as well"

"The fact that he was married to your mother doesn't make him your father. And a test is easily manipulated, you know that. It just boggles my mind that you're so willing to believe Kirk's lies"

"It's all I've got, Reddington! At least he's willing to tell me things and tell me about my mother. He has answers for me. Something you're never willing to give me"

"I give you answers, but all in good time. Besides, a lot of the things you want to know are actually dangerous for you to know. The less you know, the better"

"You always have your answer ready, don't you?" Liz said.

"Just believe me. Even if it's only this once. Be careful with Kirk, because he's not who you think he is"

Liz stared at him intently, trying to see if she could catch him lying but she couldn't. Maybe he was telling the truth? But what would that mean? Who was Kirk then? She wanted to stay angry with Red but she just couldn't. When she looked at him all she saw was a broken man who needed to be taken care of. If Liz were honest, she would gladly take that upon herself.

Red had gone quiet. He had put his head back into his hands and this time he had his eyes closed.

Liz had been afraid that this would happen, that Red would open up but only for a moment before shutting down again. No, she thought, they needed to talk it out. Now.

"Red?"

She looked at him but he didn't react. All she could see him do was breathe heavily and sitting with his head in his hands. He had taken his fedora off and she looked at it, lying on the table next to the food. Oh, how she loved those fedoras. She looked back at the shorn head between two beautiful hands and sighed.

"Red, please, don't stop now. We need to…."

Before she could finish her sentence he said, "Do you have any idea what you've put me through? I can't even put into words how I felt after you died…"

He still hadn't moved and his voice was now not more than a whisper.