BLINDSPOT ONE-SHOTS (REPATA, JELLER & THE THROUPLE)

THE CHOICE

NOTE: The team rescued Rich from the CIA dark site prior to the notification that Reade survived Madeline's assassination attempt.

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TASHA: ' YOU DID THIS, WELLER: YOU !'

KURT (in a near whisper): '' I KNOW ...I know that ... '

TASHA: '' You should have left me THERE; I wanted to STAY THERE, with him ...'

WELLER: '' TASH...you heard him; he told me to take you out ...'

TASHA: '' And FUCK YOU FOR DOING IT !'

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Jane...Kurt...Patterson...and Zapata...they barely escaped with their lives; Rich has been dumped into a CIA 'dark site' at the behest of the villainous Madeline Burke, the New National Director Of Law Enforcement. Boston is in hiding. The Team is forced to abandon their Icelandic safe house to hide out in Eastern Europe in an off-the-grid bunker and plot their revenge.

She can't stop seeing her man beneath what must have a ton of rock; how in the world did he muster the superhuman effort it took to lift so much weight for her...because he loved her so much...

She can't stop crying, and she's eating and drinking very little (the team has noticed and they try to intervene but how can truly understand the devastation of losing the man she loved from the moment they met? The soccer coach she was sort of dating was shown the door the night after Repata's Day One FBI orientation. As adamant as she was to not abandon him he was just as determined that Weller and the rest take her out of there...'I got you, baby...ALWAYS ' he said.

And she's in agony. PATTERSON found her wailing in her quarters, having heard the entire exchange from before. "Hey, Zapata?... NOT TAKIN' SIDES, but Weller only did what Reade said..."

"FUCKING STOP! STOP right there! I'm the one who abandoned him after protecting him time and time again: ME! I DREAM about his last words to me every night, and I wake up every day wishing that I'd died there by his side...ins-in-stead of all ALL ALONE which is not what he deserved..." Tasha sobs.

Patterson nods, eyes brimming with tears. "He deserved so much more, of course, he did...but he wanted you to LIVE Tash..."

Sometime in the last few minutes, Jane slipped into the room. "What should Kurt have DONE, Za Zapata? Tell us! Don't you know how TORN he was...how conflicted we ALL WERE? Don't think for a second that Kurt has shrugged off what he did without a mountain of guilt..."

"Says the one with the LIVE MAN in her bed!" Zapata snaps acidly.

"HELPING or HURTING, Tash?" Rich asks, who joins the party. "We all loved Reade, but look, I have..."

I LOST THE MAN I LOVE!" Tasha screams. "That's ENOUGH from the peanut gallery!"

Chastened, Rich blanches before stuttering "...ummm-I, uh...I...I have a 'ping' from 'ICE CREAM'...

"THAT Motherucker?!" Jane fumes. "What the FUCK does the TRAITOR have to say that we're interested in?

"Find out where he is-I have a GIFT I've been holding for him!" Patterson puts in.

"READE'S ALIVE!" Rich finally shouts over the resultant din. Everyone stops yelling at once, and Kurt, alerted by all of the discord, joins the rest.

"What...what did you SAY?" Zapata asks huskily. "H-how!? HOW!?"

"Reddington. Red Reddington's guys went to the site; when Madeline moved against him and we stopped it he feels he owes us. We all know how far his reach extends: SHIT, he's the real-life KAISER SOZE...it seems he-REDDINGTON-sent that scary DEMBA guy to pull Reade out. He was barely alive, and all...(he sends a pained glance Tasha's way)...kinda fucked up. Reddington has him; he's safe."

"I'm going to get him," Tasha says, standing up and picking up her sidearm.

"We ALL GO," Weller adds.

"WAIT...can we trust Reddington?" asks Patterson.

"We have a CHOICE?" Rich asks.

"Whether any of you come with or not, I'm bringing Reade back," breaks in. "I left him once : RIGHT, Weller? I failed him once...Not again. NEVER AGAIN!"

Jane says "We need a PLAN, Zapata-"

"I have a plan-bring Reade back and kill any hijo de puta que me quiere detener." (son of a bitch who tries to stop me).

"TASHA! We'll all join Reade if we go at this without a plan," Weller reasons. "Of course, we'll bring Reade back-how do we do that with a 'ping' from his phone as our only intel?! Reade would be the first one to say that we need to strategize before we go off half-cocked."

"He's right, Tash," says Patterson. "Here: we don't even have to do much on our end: Reddington already has the 'op' planned: we link up with Dembe Zuma and his muscle in three days-"

"THREE DAYS!" Zapata shouted. 

"It says here that Red has the best doctors in Europe treating him: they set the three-day time table. Apparently moving him before then would put him at risk. And he's safe. There's no way that Madeline would ever test Reddington. In the meantime, we could arrange travel, etc. Think about it, Tasha. This is the way." Patterson concluded.

"Three days-NO MORE," Zapata informs them all in an emphatic tone. 

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"The preparations are complete, Red" Dembe informs his boss. "The one called Ice Cream has disappeared; he'll be located eventually. I made it exceedingly clear to Mrs. Burke that further action against 'the group' would be looked upon disfavorably by yourself."

"Excellent work, as always Dembe. It grieved me very much that these other matters precluded your planned visit to your daughter. We're unable to move Mr. Reade for three more days; take the trip now. Use the jet."

"I appreciate it Red," Dembe says with feeling.

"Enjoy your abbreviated vacation, My Brother. Neither of  us will have much time for recreation in the coming weeks."