Lizzie skimmed through her few coats, trying to find one for the pick up today. Her and Red were meant to meet with another blacklister this afternoon to pick up some missile codings. It puzzled her that something as serious as transferring codes for missiles, was going to be done at some random park, but she pushed the thought away as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs; it was Tom. After reading the case file Red had given to her, she hadn’t been able to look him in the eye. She decided against a coat and grabbed her phone, quickly heading for the door.
“Lizzie.” Tom’s voice was more of a plea to stay, rather than just a name. The way he spoke her name, just didn’t sound right anymore. She paused, but didn’t turn back.
“Sorry Tom, I gotta go. I’m already running late.” She lied. She could feel his gaze on her, and it made her uncomfortable.
“I was just hoping we could talk about everything.” He said stepping closer.
“I really am late Tom. Maybe tonight.” She said pushing through the door making her escape to her car. She felt like she was going to break down. She needed a moment to think, but now here. Tom could see the car from the window, and would come running out. She pulled off onto the road, and made her way to the office.
As she pulled into the lot, she pulled the keys out of the ignition, and leaned back in her seat closing her eyes. She took in a deep breath and tried to relax her mind. It worked, until she glanced over into her passenger seat and saw Tom’s case file. She grabbed it carefully, debating going over it again, but quickly decided against it. As the anger of the situation filled her mind, she threw the file into the back of her car. Papers flew everywhere in her car as she slammed her hands against the steering wheel. She jumped in her seat and her punch unintentionally sounded the horn.
She sat there in silence, staring at the wheel for what felt like hours, but was merely seconds. She took a deep breath in as she tried to pull herself together, and was startled as there was knock on her window. She rolled her eyes as she was Red standing there, smile and all.
“What is it?” She said as she rolled her window down.
He seemed slightly shocked by her tone toward him, but if faded off his face quickly. “I just heard your horn going off and wanted to make sure you were doing alright.” His deep voice paused. “Are you Lizzie?”
She sighed as she opened her car door to get out. “I’m fine, thanks.” Her tone still flat.
He gave her a concerned look after he glanced into the back of the car, seeing the papers scattered. Her eyes told him everything. She wasn’t, but he simply let it pass. For now.
They walked in silence into the building where they were met with many confused looks.
Ressler was the first to break the ice. “A little early aren’t we?” His question was directed more toward Liz alone, rather than the two of them. She looked down at her watch to see that she was early, 2 hours early.
“I uh-” she started. She didn’t want to bring up Tom, and how she’d gotten up earlier just to avoid the inevitable discussions that would’ve come had she slept in. She tried her best to come up with some excuse, any excuse in her mind, but she couldn’t. That’s when Red kicked in.
“I asked Lizzie here to meet me a bit earlier so we could go over her cover. Mrs. Anderson is always one to pay attention to detail.” He paused. “The last thing we need is her being suspicious.” His voice was smooth and calm, as if he actually did ask this of her. It was as if he had already planned this out. As she thought of this, Red’s arm gently brushed up against hers, to get her to agree.
She all too eagerly nodded. “Yeah,” was all she could manage, as her mind went flat. She heard his low chuckle at her unconvincing agreement, but it seemed to be enough for Ressler, as he went over the plan. Liz was going as Reddington’s ‘lover’ and they were to wait at a bench until Mrs. Anderson would come. They would simply make the exchange. Sounds easy enough. The one problem was, Mrs. Anderson did actually pay very close attention to detail. If she thought something was up even for just a second, everything was off the table. The only reason Liz was still going along, was that Ressel still didn’t trust Red on his own, and honestly, she wasn’t complaining. She enjoyed his presence. He made her feel safe.
“If that is all, Lizzie and I will be on our way.” Red said, as he already started toward the door.
“We have 2 hours,” Liz protested.
“Oh alright,” His voice has a sense of sarcasm. “I was just wanting to walk the grounds to make sure, no one was there. You know, missile coding is a little bit serious.” No one said anything, as he made his point. Liz followed him as he turned to the door once more. “Alright, let’s go.”
* * *
“Are you ready for this?” Red asked as he put the car into park, turning to face Liz. His voice showed no trace of concern, but his eyes spoke differently. She looked at him curiously and confused.
“Of course I am,” she said , unsure of his questioning. His eyes met hers with a look of disbelief.
“You can’t freeze up with Anderson like you did earlier. She’ll become suspicious instantly.” She could tell he was being careful with his tone, not to sound harsh.
“Ya, I know. My mind just went black,” she paused. “Thanks for that cover up by the way. I just didn’t want to....” her voice fell quiet as she thought of Tom.
Red gently put his hand on hers as an attempt of comfort. “I understand.” He simply spoke. Two words made her feel so much better. As if, it was confirming that it was fine for her to feeling this confused.
She sat there staring at the door handle. Part of her wanted him to move his hand, so they could get on with the mission. But the other half of her wanted him to leave it there, to stay there in his comfort. Red sighed as his thumbs gently caressed her hand, which made her feel instantly relaxed.
He never said anything; not an “it’ll be okay,” or his all too common, “I’ll keep you safe.” But it was his silent gestures, and his eyes, that said all of these things.
“Alright,” Liz sighed, gently pulling away her hand. “Let’s do this.” As she stepped out of the car, Red did the same, meeting her on the passenger side. As they started walking toward the park, he swiftly put his hand around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. She was surprised at first, until she realized what was going on.
“She’s already got people watching,” he whispered deeply and softly in her ear. “Stay close, sweetie.”
“Just watch your hands, honey.” She whispered into his. She could feel his chest move as he chuckled quietly.
