Work Text:
When Ressler had woken up that morning, he had planned on meeting with his boss, catching up on some paperwork, and getting Chinese food for takeout. He hadn’t planned on seeing his CI Raymond Reddington in his living room, with news that Hector Lorca was currently in country for the next eighteen hours, to facilitate the takeover of a D.C.-based rival.
Ressler had rushed into work, and everyone on the task force had thrown together a sting, and now it was roughly one in the morning, they had Lorca in custody, and Ressler was in the hospital against his will for some minor bullet wounds.
He drummed his fingers against the side of his bed, frowning. He needed to file an after-action report, he needed to clean his gun, and he needed to find Reddington and strangle him for not giving them more notice on the drug deal. Instead he was sitting in a hospital bed as a condescending doctor checked the wrappings on his shoulder. He’d been wearing a vest, so the shot he’d taken to the chest was only a bruise, but a stray had managed to graze his shoulder. Ressler sullenly participated in all his reflex tests, and allowed the doctor to check his breathing with a stethoscope, and when they finally declared a nurse would be in shortly he could have cried with relief.
Instead he pulled out his phone, dialing Aram, who cut him off before he could say anything. “Ressler! Are you okay? I heard you got shot but the paramedics had already taken you by the time I got there and no one is telling me anything!”
He resisted rolling his eyes with some difficulty. “Aram, I’m fine. The vest got the worst of it. Did Lorca make it to the Post Office in one piece?”
“What? Oh, right, Lorca. Yeah, he has a broken ankle from when Samar tackled him, but other than that he’s fine. They’re in interrogation right now. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“No, I’m actually bleeding to death as we speak. Keep me updated until I get back.”
He hung up on Aram’s squawk of alarm, as someone else pulled back the curtains. His heart did a double take. Ressler had known he had a thing for nurses ever since sophomore year of high school, when Sophia Berry had come dressed as a sexy nurse and he’d been so thoroughly distracted that he failed a biology quiz. And this nurse, who was unwinding a stethoscope, was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Short, wavy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and the appraising blue eyes she turned on him were nothing short of stunning.
She pulled a stethoscope off her neck and walked over to the side of the bed. “Hello Mr. Ressler, my name is Liz I’m going to be discharging you today.”
It’s just Ressler, he wanted to say, or maybe, you’re absolutely gorgeous. Instead what came out was, “Well it’s about time.”
Liz the nurse gave him a rather wry smile. “I’m glad you feel that way cause you just won me twenty dollars.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry?”
She placed the stethoscope on his chest for a few seconds before removing it and placing her hands on his shoulder. “My friend Meera heard we had another LEO coming in, I bet her twenty bucks it’d be the typical tough guy, she was thinking you’d be softer and more sensitive. You know, the kind of guy who listens to his doctors and comes back for his follow up appointments.”
Liz finished stretching out his shoulder, and he rolled it a couple of times as he tried to come up with a witty reply. “Actually I’m a Sagittarius.”
She laughed and he felt a rush of pride. “LEO as in law enforcement officer.”
I knew that, he thought about saying. I just wanted to make you laugh. “You guys see a lot of us?”
She made some notes on a clipboard. “We’re one of only two level one trauma centers in DC and the other is all the way across the city. We get our fair share of you boys in blue.” Liz stuck the pen back in the chest pocket of her scrubs and smiled at him. “Looks like you’re ready to go. We’ll have you come back in a week for a follow up, you can work out the details at the front desk.”
He frowned. “A follow up? It’s a graze.”
“We like to be overly cautious with gunshot wounds and anything involving the head, but if you’d rather risk an infection, get sepsis and die, be my guest.” Her arms were folded as she tilted her head and smiled at him expectantly.
Feeling slightly chastised, he nodded. “Follow up in a week. Got it.”
“Glad to hear it. Do you have any questions for me before we get you out of here?”
Ressler was temporarily possessed, that was the only explanation. That or the minor gunshot wound had already contracted an infection which had worked its way up to his brain. Because if he had been in his right mind, he absolutely would never have allowed the next words out of his mouth. “Could I get your phone number?” He could feel the heat rushing up into his cheeks as Liz’s mouth opened and her eyes widened. “In case I forget to come in for my follow up, I mean. I’d hate to get sepsis.”
Wishing he could turn back time by about thirty seconds, or that she would put him out of his misery and simply walk out of the room, he fought the desire to look away and instead waited for her to let him down gently. She really did have the prettiest eyes, he thought despairingly.
Liz finally closed her mouth, and gave him a smile that was almost rueful. “I don’t normally date patients.”
“First time for everything right?” Oh god. Whatever impulse-driven demon had infiltrated his brain with a determination to ruin his life, he was going to extract it and set it on fire as soon as he got home.
Her expression turned thoughtful and she checked her watch. “How about this. My shift ends at about six, if you’re feeling up for it you can come over and buy me breakfast after that. Assuming it goes well and neither of us goes running for the hills, I’ll give you my number after.”
Almost unable to process his good luck, Ressler smiled at her. “I’ll see you then.”
Liz left the room and Ressler punched the air, before quickly composing himself. He pulled his shoes back on, found the front desk and drove over to see how the interrogation was going.
Samar was just leaving the room when he got there, an irate looking Lorca and his undoubtedly expensive lawyer still inside. “He give you something?”
She gave him a smug expression. “If by something you mean, the names of his suppliers and distributors and locations of safehouses, then yes, he gave me something.”
“Nicely done,” he said, hoping his voice sounded at least half as impressed as he felt. “How’d you pull that off?”
“A woman never tells,” she winked.
They headed back over to the main room, and he noticed her eyeing him suspiciously. “What?” he demanded.
“You’re walking differently.”
Ressler looked down at his feet. “You mean as opposed to how I normally Heely around the building?”
She smacked him with the case file. “No it’s not that. You’ve got a spring in your step or something.”
He made a conscious effort to walk more normally. “I do not.”
“You do so.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Who’s delusional?” Aram piped up as they entered.
“Nobody,” replied Ressler, at the same time as Samar said, “Ressler’s skipping.”
“Why is he skipping?” Aram asked, as he wrapped an arm around Samar’s waist and placed a quick kiss to her forehead.
“I am not skipping,” he snapped.
Samar grinned devilishly at her fiancé. “He has a spring in his step, I’m not sure why yet. Care to find out, my love?”
“Absolutely, my dear.”
Ressler bent his head to start filling out forms, determined to ignore them, hyenas that they were. He could see Samar tapping her chin in the corner of his eye. “Let’s see. Is it work related? Family related? Friend related? Did you meet someone?”
He blinked.
“Oh my goodness you met someone!”
“I did not,” he scowled, forgetting his policy of strategic ignorance.
Aram snickered. “You totally did.”
Samar continued, looking pleased with herself. “You weren’t skipping earlier, which means you met her recently, probably at the hospital. Was it another patient? A doctor? A nurse?” His grip on the pen twitched. “It is a nurse, that is adorable,” she crowed.
Realizing he had signed the same line five times, he threw it away before grabbing a new one.
“So what’s her name?” Aram pressed.
Not acknowledging the burning in his ears, Ressler sighed. “Her name is Liz, I’m buying her breakfast when her shift ends in a few hours, and I will be fielding exactly no more questions on the subject.”
He took the paperwork over to his office and shut the door behind him, breathing a sigh of relief when they didn’t barge in anyway.
***
Ressler was overdressed. He was most definitely overdressed, but it wasn’t like he could just go home and change. Ressler nervously straightened his sleeves outside the hospital. He had come straight from work, and if Liz gave him a look or a comment he would simply explain that he had come straight from work. He could not remember the last time he had stressed this much about date attire, but to be fair he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on a date, so his frame of reference was not that great.
He checked his watch again. It was five minutes past six, he could now probably enter without being labeled as desperate. He forced himself to take a deep breath – it would not be a good look if he passed out on a first date – and entered the hospital. He walked over to the information desk and gave his best, ‘I am not a stalker’ smile. “Hi, I’m looking for a nurse named Liz, her shift should have just ended?”
She didn’t look up from her computer. “Last name?”
He winced. “Um…”
“Hey!”
Ressler turned around to see Liz walking up and felt his stomach do a weird sort of clenching thing. She had changed out of the scrubs into gray sweats, a clean green shirt and jean jacket. He was definitely overdressed. “Hi.”
She adjusted the strap of her purse and tucked a nonexistent hair behind her ear, giving him hope that she was as nervous as he was. “There’s a breakfast place about a block away, I was thinking we could go there?”
Realizing he had not thought of where to actually take her to breakfast, Ressler gratefully accepted this suggestion. “Lead the way.”
They went back outside, the air typically brisk as the city prepared itself for snow. “How’s your shoulder Don? Should I call you Don?”
For lack of anything better to do with his hands, and also to stop himself from grabbing her hand, he shoved them in his pockets. “Actually I just go by Ressler, and my shoulder’s fine.”
“Did you set a date for your follow up appointment?”
He side-eyed her. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I didn’t ask you out so I could get free healthcare advice.”
Her cheeks flushed. “And here I was thinking you were just trying to cheat the system.”
“I’m not that desperate.”
“I don’t know if I’d call it desperate.”
“Well then what would you call it?”
She shrugged. “Innovative.”
Ressler laughed as she stopped walking outside a bricked-up building called Great Bear and pulled open the door. They walked inside and were immediately hit with a blast of warm air. The shop was just beginning to fill up but the line wasn’t that long as Liz led the way up to the counter, ordering a hot chocolate and breakfast burrito. Ressler got coffee, prompting Liz to raise her eyebrows. “It’s six in the morning and you’ve been up all night, what do you need coffee for?”
He shrugged as he paid. “I have to be back at work by eight.”
She gave a low whistle. “And I thought my hours sucked.” They took their number and headed over to a table for two by the window. He hastily pulled the chair out for Liz, and saw her hide a small smile as she took her seat. “So if we’re not going to talk about my work, how about we talk about yours. You’re an FBI agent, right?”
Ressler drummed his fingers on the table. “Yeah,” he said cautiously.
Liz frowned when he didn’t expand. “Well what’s it like? What do you do? Have you ever secretly saved the President and not been able to tell anyone?”
That surprised a laugh out of him. “It’s a lot of paperwork, even more waiting, and the occasional getting shot at. No, I’ve never saved the President, but my friend Morgan did once arrest a senator for circumventing sanctions.”
“Do you have a badge?”
He reached into his coat pocket and handed it to her. She flipped it open, tongue sticking out slightly from between her teeth as she looked it over. She turned it back to him with a grin. “Nice photo, very serious-looking.”
“Would you rather I be hanging ten?” he asked. “It’s like a passport photo, you’re not supposed to look good.”
She winked. “I never said you didn’t look good, I said you looked serious.” She reached over to hand it back, and as she did the right sleeve of her jacket slid up and he saw a burn scar that stretched from her wrist to her palm. Liz noticed his glance. “Are you going to ask?”
The waitress chose that moment to bring their orders over, saving him for the moment as Liz chugged half her drink in one go. “A little dehydrated are we?”
She set the drink down and rubbed at her eyes. “I just finished a twelve-hour shift where one patient had to be rushed to surgery, two got into a fistfight, and one tried to stab me with a scalpel. It’s been a long night.”
He took a swig of his coffee. “Are your nights normally that exciting?”
“Not always, but often enough that it’s not irregular. And don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t answer when I asked what you do.”
He smiled apologetically. “I can’t really say.”
“Ooh, is it classified?” Liz teased, getting started on her burrito.
“Well, actually yeah.” Liz choked on her bite and spent a few seconds coughing, and Ressler felt his face heat up as she reached once more for her cup to help it go down.
Her eyes were slightly wet when she finally responded. “Wait, seriously? Classified like I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you, classified?”
Wishing his face would cool down, he shrugged. “It’s more in the top-secret realm. I work with a team to take down high-value targets.”
Liz ran a hand over her hair. “Impressive. Does that mean they’ll run a background check on me if we start going out?”
He shook his head. “No, they’ve got more important things to worry about.”
Her lips twitched up. “You saying I’m not important?”
Ressler grinned. “I know entrapment when I hear it Liz.”
She laughed. “Fair enough. So what do you do when you’re not saving the world? Any hobbies?”
“I mean it’s a bit of a full-time job, but I have buddies I hang out with and my brother likes to come visit every so often.” He liked talking with Liz, it was easier than talking to anyone else he knew, which was a feat since he’d known her for less than an hour. “What about you, any family?”
She grimaced. “No. No I’m an only child, and my parents died in a fire when I was a kid.”
He felt sympathy well up inside of him. “Is that how you got the scar?”
Liz glanced at her wrist. “Yeah, I was in the house when it started. Firefighters pulled me out. I was six at the time.”
Hoping it would show he understood her pain, and not like he was trying to overshadow it, Ressler said, “My dad died when I was fourteen.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s awful. How did it happen?”
He sucked in a breath through his teeth. “He was a cop who worked in IA. This other officer turned out to be dirty and killed my dad when he started looking into him.”
“Did they catch the guy who did it?”
Ressler took another drink of coffee. “Yeah, Tommy Markin, my dad’s old partner from when he worked homicide.”
Liz traced the top of her lid with her fingers. “We have found our way to a very dark topic, and I’m not sure how to get out of it.”
He found himself laughing, and she smiled in return. “Well we can either start talking about our ideal pets or take turns psycho analyzing each other.”
She rolled her eyes. “Funny.”
Liz turned out to own her ideal pets, a black cat named Tiger and a toy poodle named Monster. She almost inhaled her drink through her nose when he said his was a fish. “The food costs like three dollars and you only have to clean the tank twice a year. If there’s a lower maintenance animal I’ve yet to find it.”
“What about an ant farm?”
“And risk that thing getting knocked over? I’d rather own a viper.”
Liz shared that she was working towards getting her doctorate of nursing, and he admitted to once being part of a barbershop quartet in college, causing her to laugh so hard she almost cried.
As more early risers started to arrive, all of them demanding caffeine, Ressler paid for the meal and they made the short walk back to the hospital. By the time they reached her car, the tips of his ears felt like they were about to freeze off, which was a good distraction since he was trying to work up the courage to kiss her goodbye.
“Considering the fact that you’re not tearing out of here Fast and Furious style, am I correct in guessing I’ve won your number?”
She laughed. “Well let’s see. Behind curtain number one we have an all-expenses paid trip to a rat-infested motel room where at least three murders have occurred, behind curtain number two we have a doctor’s appointment with a known foot fetishist, and behind curtain number three we have the phone number for a cute and very witty nurse. What will our contestant choose?”
He pretended to think about it. “You said the motel room is already paid for?” She pulled on an extremely offended look and folded her arms as he winked. “I’ll take curtain number three.”
“Good answer,” she muttered as he pulled out a phone. He gave it to her so she could input her number, and when she was done he snapped a photo of her crinkling her nose for her contact. “Delete that,” she demanded.
“Absolutely not,” he grinned.
Liz stepped forward to snatch the phone back, and before his nerve could fail him he gently cupped her cheek and kissed her. Her lips were cold but so, so soft, and he stepped closer as she put her own hand on his neck. He had meant to just give her a brief kiss and pull away, but now her other hand was coming up to grip his coat as she pulled him in tighter, her lips parting beneath his.
Afraid that if she pulled him any closer they’d fall over, he turned them so that her back was up against the car, and left her mouth behind to place kisses along her jawline. She made a breathy ‘oh’ sound, fingers tightening on his neck as he gripped her waist, and knowing her skin was just beneath her thin shirt his heartrate rocketed upwards.
Suddenly his phone started ringing, and he was tempted to ignore it before reluctantly admitting its probable importance. He didn’t answer it for a few more seconds though, taking the time to get his breathing under control. “This is Ressler.” Aram started talking into his ear at fifty miles per hour as Liz buried her face in the crook of his neck. “Uh huh,” he said absently, only hearing forty percent of what was being said. Something about a fight with the lawyer and homeland security and him needing to get back twenty minutes ago. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up on Aram mid-sentence as Liz pressed a kiss right beneath his ear. “That call was important,” he reproached her.
“I’m sure it was,” she agreed, kisses moving slightly south. “Very important top-secret stuff, obviously.” Just as his eyes were about to roll back in his head she pulled away to look at him. Her lips were swollen. “Give me a call when you’re done saving the world?”
Hoping his voice wouldn’t crack, he nodded. “Definitely.”
Smiling, she pressed one last quick kiss to his mouth before getting in her car. He took a few steps back as Liz reversed out of the spot and drove away, resisting the urge to wave.
***
Samar dropped a massive casefile on his desk and promptly folded her elbows atop it, giving him a considering look. “Are you seeing the nurse again tonight?”
“What’s in the file?” he asked instead.
She ignored this. “It’s been two months and you’ve been on at least ten dates, it seems serious, I’m now invested, and I’d like to know if you’re seeing her again tonight.
Ressler leaned back, trying to absorb what she’d just said. “How could you possibly know how many dates we’ve been on?”
“Aram checked to see when your phones were both in the same location.”
He blinked. “Sure, because that’s not creepy and illegal.”
Samar did not seem to find this concerning. “Well it’s not like you’ve told us anything about this person, for all we know she’s an assassin, so it could be argued we’re just looking out for your wellbeing.”
“You’re not inspiring a whole lot of confidence here.”
She leaned down so their eyes were level. “So are you seeing her tonight?”
“Samar,” he half-groaned half-laughed. “Why can’t you and Aram worry about your own relationship?”
“Because our relationship is perfect, the chemistry’s there, the sex is great, and we’re not sick of each other yet. Only problem is our mothers keep trying to plan the wedding for us which involves them each telling the other to convert, and so to distract ourselves we have latched onto your love life like the amazing friends we are.”
“Like vultures you mean,” he retorted.
Aram knocked twice on the door to his office before sticking his head inside. “Hey, so is he seeing her tonight?”
“Oh my god.” He put his face in his hands.
“It’s an innocent question!”
“It’s an interrogation,” he replied, lifting his head. “And for the record you two were never this invested in my life when I was single.”
The two gave each other a look, one that Ressler knew meant they were having one of their silent conversations. Samar was the one to answer. “We are happy to see you happy again, is all. You haven’t really dated anyone since Audrey.”
Audrey. The name still hurt.
Accepting that their meddling came from a place of good intentions, Ressler sighed. “No I’m not seeing her tonight, but I was planning on stopping by during her shift to surprise her.”
Samar beamed at him. “Are you bringing flowers? Women love flowers.”
“No I’m not bringing flowers, but I am buying her a late dinner.”
Aram held out his hand for a high five which Ressler ignored, but Samar took his place good-naturedly. He pretended to wipe away a tear. “They grow up so fast,” he fake-sniffled.
Unamused, Ressler pointed to the door. “You two can leave now.”
Snickering, they left, glancing at him as they went. He pulled the case file towards him and flipped it open, pretending to be studying it as they were probably watching through the window. Ressler didn’t know if he would define his and Liz’s relationship as serious, they hadn’t even slept together, or had the ‘are we exclusive’ talk. But he liked talking with her, or even just listening to her talk. And her pets liked him, especially Tiger, which according to Liz was a very good sign. They’d done a couple more breakfast dates, a few dinners, and rented The Ring on Amazon which Liz had apparently always wanted to watch but been too scared. “But now that I have an FBI agent with me I feel safe enough,” she joked. He hadn’t said it at the time, but the words had filled him with warmth. The past few weeks they had started seeing each other more and more often, and whenever he wasn’t with her he was anticipating the next time he would be. He’d never surprised her at work before though, and was hoping it would be well received.
Reddington stopped by later, wearing his typical insufferable smirk and jaunty fedora, and Ressler had to resist the urge to strangle him several times, but finally the day was almost done, and he would be seeing Liz in less than half an hour. He held onto this thought like a life preserver as Reddington approached him. “So Donald, your coworkers have informed me you’ve embarked upon a new relationship with a lovely young nurse?”
Ressler swore.
***
He didn’t stop by the hospital where Liz worked often, but he’d been there enough that he was by now familiar with some of the people who worked the same shifts. She had also introduced him to her friend Meera who worked in pediatrics, who happened to be coming off the elevator as he walked up to it. He flagged her down. “Hey, Meera!”
She briefly looked around before her eyes settled on him and she grinned. “Ah, the boyfriend. I assume you’re looking for Liz?”
He nodded. “Yeah, do you know where I can find her?”
Meera’s grin widened. “I think she’s on the bottom floor breakroom, I can show you where it is.”
“Thanks, but I’ve picked her up from there before.” He headed off, fighting very hard to keep the spring out of his step that Samar loved to point out. Last thing he needed was to be locked up in the psychiatric ward.
When he reached the breakroom there were a couple of people in scrubs. Liz didn’t seem to be there but he did see Alina, one of the oncology nurses Liz had taken under her wing, on one of the couches immersed in her phone. He headed over to her. “Hey, is Liz around?”
It took her a few seconds to hear him. “What? Oh, Liz. Um, yeah she was just here, but she left with some guy a couple minutes ago.”
He felt a strange pinching sensation in his chest. “Some guy like another nurse?”
“Nah, he doesn’t work at the hospital. Tall, dark hair, good looking. I think she called him Tim or something.” She had already turned back to her phone which was good, because he was trying very hard not to panic.
Liz is not Audrey. He forced himself to repeat the thought over and over again, before trusting himself to open his mouth. “Do you know where they went?”
“Outside or something. Not sure.”
He left the breakroom, forcing himself to walk normally. If this was like Audrey, Ressler didn’t think he could stomach it a second time, and would much rather just block her number and never contact her again. But no, Liz was different, she had to be different. It was probably a friend, or a patient, or a family member. Alina had said dark haired, and Liz had fairly dark hair. He found the nearest exit that led to an alley next to the hospital, and hesitated. Liz is not Audrey, he reminded himself one last time, before pushing the door open and stepping outside.
At first he thought it was empty, that they must have gone somewhere else, but then he heard the sounds of a small scuffle and walked towards it. What he saw next he could hardly process. On the other side of a dumpster was Liz, and a tall man with dark hair had her pinned against the brick wall by her neck, her toes barely touching the ground. Her mouth was open and she was clearly trying to breathe, her fingers scrabbling uselessly at his hands.
His gun was in his hands before he’d even thought to go for it, pointing at the man’s back. “Agent Ressler FBI, let her go and step away.”
The man seemed to stiffen, his head turning slightly so that Ressler could see his profile. “I’d go back inside if I were you.”
His finger twitched on the trigger. “I’m not going to ask you again, let the woman go and step away.”
He could see the man’s face twist into a scowl, but he released his grip on Liz. She fell to the light layer of snow on the ground, gasping as she gulped down air, hands massaging her throat. Ressler kept his gun trained on the man until he’d stepped further away. “Get on your knees and put your hands above your head.”
He laughed, giving Liz a leering look that made Ressler want to punch him. “What you think you’re going to arrest me? Me? What for?”
“I’ll start with assault and then go from there. Now get down on your knees, don’t make me say it twice.”
“No,” Liz suddenly called out, her voice raw. “You can’t – you can’t arrest him.”
Ressler didn’t lower his gun. “Liz, are you all right?”
She coughed before answering. “I’m fine, but you can’t arrest him.”
“Why the hell not?” he demanded, but Tom suddenly laughed again.
“Oh my gosh, it’s you isn’t it?”
Ressler scowled. “What are you talking about?”
He jerked his head at Liz. “You’re the man who’s been fucking my wife.”
It seemed the air left his lungs, the last word running through his mind like a broken record. Wife, wife, wife. The gun shook slightly in his hands before Liz snapped in a voice full of loathing, “I am not your wife Tom!”
“Yeah keep telling yourself that,” Tom shot back.
Ressler forced himself to focus, to steady his hands. Whatever was going on between these two, whoever they were to each other, he had to focus on what mattered. And what mattered was that when he had walked outside, Tom had been in the middle of strangling her. “You have ten seconds to walk away before I shoot and call it self-defense.”
Tom sneered at him. “You’re bluffing.”
“I’ll admit we’re right outside a hospital, but if I hit you right between the eyes all the medicine in the world won’t save you. Ten. Nine.”
Apparently not wanting to risk it, Tom gave Liz one last scathing look, before edging past Ressler. “This isn’t over sweetie. I’ll be back for you,” he called, before jogging away.
Ressler waited until he was out of sight before re-holstering his gun and running over to Liz. He dropped down beside her, placing a soothing hand at the back of her head. She had shifted into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face between her knees. Her shoulders were shaking. “Liz,” he murmured, placing a hand on her elbow. “Liz, are you all right?” She shook her head, keeping it firmly between her knees. Unsure what else to do, he pulled his coat off and draped it around her, before moving to sit next to her, keeping one cautious hand on her shoulders.
She didn’t move for a few more moments, before lifting her head and letting it fall back against the wall, staring blankly into space. He tried again, doing his best to ignore the hand-shaped bruises around her neck. “Liz, do you want me to take you home?”
Liz bit down on her lip, looking pained. “No, I, I can’t go home. If he’s been watching me he’ll know where I live, I can’t, I can’t go home, I can’t, oh my god.”
She went to put her face back between her knees, but Ressler put a hand to her cheek, forcing her to look at him. “Liz, you’re hurt, it’s cold, and he could come back. We’ll go to my place, okay?”
Her eyes widened. “No, he knows who you are he could know where you live, he could, I can’t, oh my god.”
Afraid she would start hyperventilating, Ressler switched over to his calming voice, the one he used when talking to skittish witnesses or teens who were high. “Liz. I promise if you let me take you back to my place, you’ll be safe there. Or if you want, I can take you somewhere else, but you can’t stay here in the snow, okay?”
Her breathing was harsh and ragged, but she slowly nodded. Relieved, he stood up before pulling Liz to her feet. He walked them over to his car, but when they got there she suddenly froze. Ressler automatically glanced around. “What is it?”
“Meera,” she muttered. “I’m in the middle of a shift, I can’t just, I have to tell Meera, or someone.”
He pulled open the door and she robotically climbed inside. “You can text Meera, say you weren’t feeling well or that your dog got sick. If you get in trouble say that I needed you to consult on something.”
Liz did not seem to hear this as she fastened her seatbelt. Doing his best to keep his worry in check, Ressler got in the other side and started the car. He broke most of the traffic laws on the way to his apartment building, and Liz didn’t say a word the entire time which was not helping him remain calm. When they got back he helped Liz out of the car, guiding her into the elevator as she remained in a semi-catatonic state.
They reached his apartment and he steered her over to the couch. He thought about making her tea before deciding on the hot chocolate she’d bought him last week. He watched her carefully as he waited for the kettle to start boiling, and sat down next to her when he brought a mug over, placing it on the coffee table in front of her.
Her eyes were glassy, and he didn’t want to push her but his concern was outweighing his caution. “Liz, can you tell me what happened?”
Her fingers drifted up to the bruises on her neck. “I don’t want to,” she mumbled.
“I know,” he said cautiously. “But I can’t help you if I don’t understand the problem.” She didn’t even grace this with a reply, just mutely shook her head. Trying to prompt her, and ignoring the voice in his head saying it was selfish, he cleared his throat. “He said you were his wife. Are you?”
Her hands contracted and her eyes squeezed shut. “Legally.”
His hearing went out of focus for a few seconds, like a radio tuned to the wrong station. Ressler forced himself to focus. “Did you leave him?”
This got a nod. “Three years ago.”
Hating himself just a little bit he continued to press her. “Did you leave him because he hurt you?”
She was silent so long he thought she might not answer, but then she said, “It’s complicated.”
“I’ve got time.”
Liz turned her head and looked at him for the first time. “It’s really complicated, and a little bit illegal.”
Ressler was not the kind of person to break rules for his friends, but somehow he knew that no matter what the next words out of her mouth were, he’d do whatever it took to help her. “You can trust me.”
Her breathing was shallow, he could see her pulse thrumming a frantic beat in her throat. “We met in college. I was at the nursing school so we didn’t run into each other until senior year. I didn’t know what he was like at first, and by the time I did I was too brainwashed to know better.” Each word seemed to be a battle, and he resisted the urge to hold her hand. “And my name wasn’t Liz back then either, it was Masha. Masha Rostova. I changed it when I left him, so that he and… the cops couldn’t find me.”
Masha Rostova. The name tickled a memory deep in the back of his brain but he ignored it.
“We had a daughter.” Her voice choked on the word ‘had’, and he didn’t miss how she spoke in past tense. “Her name was Agnes. She was two years old, and then one night I was giving her a bath.” Her hands were clenched so tightly he was worried she’d break skin, but he was also afraid if she stopped talking now she’d never start up again. “Tom came back home. He was angry. I’d put the dinner away already since I expected him to be out late.”
Her breaths were coming hard and fast, and she took a moment to rub at her eyes. “I didn’t want to fight in front of Agnes, so I went out to talk to him. I was only supposed to be gone a minute, but I guess he’d had a bad day at work or something. He was a teacher. He um,” her hand came up to touch the back of her head. “He slammed my head into the wall. Knocked me out. I woke up about ten minutes later, and Tom had left the house. Then I remembered Agnes. I ran to the bathroom, but when I got back she’d drowned.”
Ressler now knew why her name had sounded familiar, he’d heard about the New York-based story when it happened.
“I did CPR and I called nine-one-one, but there was nothing they could do. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The cops questioned Tom and I, and I didn’t tell them he hurt me. I’d covered for him plenty of times by that point, I knew they wouldn’t believe me. Next thing I know I’m being arrested for negligent homicide.” Her voice was slightly raspy, but she kept going. It seemed that now that she’d started this story, she was determined to see it through. “Kate Kaplan, she was a friend of my mom’s. She’s president of the hospital. She flew up as soon as it happened and posted my bail, asked me if I wanted to run or if I wanted to fight it. I knew I couldn’t win, so she smuggled me out of the city, got me the identity of Elizabeth Scott and a job at the hospital and I’ve been here ever since.”
Liz (Masha? No, Liz) looked at him again, eyes shiny and desperate, but also defiant. “I never wanted you to have to know any of this, and I won’t try to convince you to stay, but if you’re going to turn me in all I’m asking for is a head start.”
Her hands almost seemed to reach for him before she pulled them back, and he cautiously wrapped them in his own. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Liz made a strangled sort of sound. “She was my daughter, she was my responsibility.”
His grip on her hands tightened. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Her blue eyes searched his face. “What are you going to do?”
“Well I’m not running for the hills yet, that’s for sure.”
The familiar phrase earned an abrupt laugh out of her, before she pulled her hands away. He was disappointed at first, thinking she might be about to leave but then she brought them up to cup his face and kissed him.
Ressler ran his own hands through her hair as he kissed her back. It started out soft but then like most kisses with Liz became deeper and harder, and then she was shifting to swing a leg over him so she was straddling him on the couch. He moaned softly into her mouth, letting his hands roam down to her back, tracing patterns on the scrubs she was still wearing. She moved her hands down to his shoulders, gripping tightly as she nipped at his lower lip. He opened his mouth to her automatically, needing her as close as physically possible, to feel as much of her as physically possible. He brought one of his hands lower, until it was at her waistband, and then slid his fingers beneath it.
Liz arched her back with a moan, pulling away from him and Ressler took advantage of the movement to bring his other hand up to the V-neck of her shirt, pulling it aside to press kisses to her collarbone. Her hands tightened on his shoulders as she gasped, her hips moving against his. He kissed higher, right where her neck and shoulder met, and bit down softly. Liz gave a small shiver as he licked at the spot, and then her hands left his shoulders to strip off her top in one graceful movement, and they’d never gone this far before but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining now.
Her hands came back up to clasp his face, tilting it up so she could kiss him once more. Once he was positioned to her liking, her hands left once more, this time to start undoing the buttons on his own shirt. While she was doing that, he let his own hands run over her back, marveling at the smooth feel of her skin, how good it felt. But then when he reached her shoulder the skin roughened, and then roughened some more, and he felt Liz still above him.
Cautiously, he pulled back and saw that the burn scar on her right wrist traced upwards and expanded once it hit her upper arm, before moving to wrap around her shoulder. Ressler gently raised her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the scar, gaining confidence when she inhaled sharply. He let his lips travel upwards until they reached the inside of her elbow and then she grabbed his head once more, rocking into him so that he fell back against the cushions. His hands went to her hips, keeping her close as she finished undoing the buttons on his shirt. He shrugged it off as soon as she finished, and could barely contain his shudder as her hands traced down his chest to rest on his belt.
Instead of bringing his hands back to her hips, Ressler placed them higher, on the clasp of her bra. When she made no move to stop him, he undid the hooks, and slid the straps down her shoulders at a glacially slow pace. The straps hit her wrists and she tossed it away, and if Liz hadn’t been overwhelming his senses he probably would’ve heard it land somewhere in his apartment.
As it was, she was now entirely topless and in his lap, the fact of which enticed him to open his eyes and pull back to look at her, just for a minute.
His breath caught in his throat at how gorgeous she was, and he raised his hands to cup her breasts. He could hear her panting like she’d just finished a race, her breaths becoming shorter and shorter as he traced the area just around her nipples. With no warning, he used his forefinger and thumb to give them a sharp twist and she cried out, hand planting itself against the wall to brace herself.
“Where’s your bedroom,” she demanded, voice breathy and beautiful.
Instead of answering, he tucked his hands beneath her thighs and stood, taking her with him. Liz laughed quietly, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as she pressed her entire self against him, and then her lips found his earlobe and she bit down.
Ressler choked. “Jesus Liz,” he managed. “At least wait so I don’t drop you.”
He thought she might have giggled but couldn’t be sure. At any rate, she returned to simple kisses, though her fingers did trace tantalizing patterns on the side of his neck.
Just as he thought his heart might beat out of his chest they reached his room, and he lowered her gently onto the bed. She unwrapped herself from him to crawl backwards and he immediately followed, feeling cold without the touch of her. Keeping himself supported just above her they started kissing again, each one raising his core temperature by at least two degrees. And then she undid his belt and pulled it off and Ressler wouldn’t have been surprised if he actually caught fire.
As soon as it was gone he pulled away from her lips, moving himself just far enough down her body so that when he lowered his mouth this time it was to her breasts. She writhed beneath him, fingers running through his hair as her back arched up into him. He trailed kisses lower, to her stomach, to her hip, and then hooked his fingers into her waistband to pull off the last of her clothes.
Liz was more than happy to help, kicking them off behind him. Ressler took his time moving back up, tracing soft kisses up the inside of her leg. When he reached her thigh he bit down softly and Liz gasped, her legs jerking. He’d known her laughter was beautiful, but the sounds she was making now could put Beethoven to shame.
He switched to her other leg but stayed close to the top, circling closer but never quite giving her what she wanted, loving the way she trembled beneath him.
“Ressler,” she begged, fingers running through his hair.
He looked innocently up at her. “Yes?” Liz gave him a pleading look, but he was feeling rather smug and so pretended not to understand her. “Did you want me to stop?”
“No,” she gasped out. “Just, please.”
He ghosted his fingers up to her hips, and then ducked his head and licked. Liz cried out, her hips straining to buck up beneath his hands. When she finished, he crawled back up, peppering soft kisses as he went. As soon as he reached her mouth Liz threw her arms around Ressler and kissed him hard, and he happily obliged. So happily, in fact, that when her legs wrapped around him he didn’t even notice she was rolling him over until he was on his back.
He ran his hands over all of her, wanting to know her even more intimately than he did right now, but then every single thought flew out of his mind as she snapped open his pants and slid her hand inside to wrap around him. Ressler swore, hips jerking up into her touch, and she laughed softly.
And now Liz was the one kissing slowly down his body, stripping his pants off, and placing teasing kisses along the inside of his thighs. The only difference was she could see how much he wanted her, and chose to torture him anyway.
“Liz,” he groaned, unable to help it.
She looked up at him through her lashes and he quickly memorized the sight. “Did you want me to stop?” she challenged, and dear god this was the best revenge he’d ever suffered through.
“No,” he managed to say, voice barely above a growl.
Her lips came close before drifting away. “Patience is a virtue, you know.”
She tilted her head down once more and he dropped his head against the pillows in defeat but then when her mouth came down it was on him, and the next sound out of his body was an involuntary guttural moan, his entire body shaking with pleasure. But dimly he realized he was nearing the end and so he shifted away, pulling back.
Liz raised her mouth and her lips were so swollen he thought he might have a stroke, but they were twisted in a frown. “Was I doing it wrong?”
Ressler shook his head, pulling her back up to him, gathering her into him as he kissed her once more. Finding himself unable to look her in the eyes as he requested it, he drew back just enough so there was space between their lips. “I want to feel you,” he said, voice low.
A slight ‘oh’ escaped her lips, and then he opened his eyes to see her smiling. “Do you have protection?”
He nodded, and then reached over to the drawer in his nightstand on the side of the bed. As he was kissing her again he couldn’t see what he was doing, and it took a bit of fumbling to grab what he needed.
He tore open the condom and Liz took it from him, sliding back down his body to roll it on. With absolutely zero warning she came down on top of him, and Ressler inhaled beneath his teeth at the feel of her. She leaned down to kiss him just as he sat up and met her halfway, and then he sat all the way up, feeling every move she made, her legs her hips her tongue.
Liz rocked particularly hard against him and they fell back onto the bed. She let him roll her over so that he could be on top and the sounds she made as he started thrusting into her were enough to send him over the edge. He collapsed on top of her, already needing to kiss her again, knowing he would need to kiss her for the rest of his life.
When Ressler woke up the next morning, one of his arms was wrapped Liz, pulling her close so her back was pressed up against him. He placed a kiss to her shoulder and saw that she was awake. “Morning.”
She placed her hand over his and snuggled in closer to him. “Morning.”
He saw a soft mark on her neck that he’d left the night before and couldn’t fight back a smile as he leaned over to kiss it again. Liz sighed, and turned around to kiss him more fully.
Eager as he was to repeat their course of action from last night, he pulled away. “I have to go see someone.”
Liz raised her eyebrows. “Someone more important than me?” her tone was teasing as she reached beneath the sheets to grab him.
His breath caught. “No-o,” he managed. “It’s to help with the whole Tom thing.”
Liz immediately sat up, clutching the blanket around herself. “What are you talking about?”
Ressler cautiously sat up with her. “Her name’s Audrey. She’s the assistant district attorney, she’s friends with the New York DAs and she owes me a favor.”
“Audrey like your ex-fiancée?”
“Yeah that Audrey.”
“Didn’t she have an affair with your cousin two weeks before the wedding?”
He grimaced. “Hence the favor.” He placed a hand on her leg. “I won’t tell her anything about where you are unless she agrees. I’m asking you to trust me on this Liz. She can help get the charges dropped.”
She bit her lip, studying his face before sighing. “I have to call my neighbor and ask her to check in on Monster and Tiger.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.
***
Something Ressler hadn’t told Liz about Audrey, was that her aunt had been killed by her husband in a domestic dispute. It was the reason she became a lawyer. He had been hoping this would make her sympathetic to Liz’s situation, and he was right. After he explained the whole situation to her, she got on the phone with Clyde from Manhattan and spent the next forty minutes explaining, coercing, and threatening until he agreed to take a second look at the charges. Audrey insisted he keep her on the line as he did this, and spent another two hours going through the case piece by piece and explaining why it would not hold up in court. She finished by assuring Clyde that if he did go forward with the charges, she would personally take on the role of Liz’s defense attorney.
She finally hung up the phone, apologized to Ressler for taking so long, and assured him the charges would be dropped by the end of the day.
He held out a hand and she shook it. “Thank you Audrey.”
Audrey smiled hesitantly. “Don’t mention it. You know my door’s always open to you.”
Ressler had conveniently left out the fact the he and Liz were seeing each other, and simply gave Audrey a smile before heading out.
He made one more stop before heading back to his apartment, slightly worried Liz may have packed up and moved to Mexico while he was gone.
She was, however, sitting on the couch in yesterday’s clothes looking over one of his takeout menus. She looked up when he came in, her face tense. He said her charges would be dropped by the end of the day and at first she didn’t believe it, but then she flung herself at him and they had sex right there on the couch.
Afterwards as he was stroking her hair, she asked what should they do about Tom now that he’d found her. In the interest of plausible deniability, he told her as little as he could while still making it clear Tom was taken care of.
He’d met with Reddington before coming back, and since he was always offering to do illegal things anyway Ressler told him he may as well put it to good use. Red had assured him Tom would not be bothering anyone again, and Ressler didn’t ask for any details.
Liz was more than satisfied with this answer, enough so that she felt confident enough to go back to her own apartment for a change of clothes. Though she did make Ressler come with her so he could go in the door first.
Monster committed insurance fraud by sprinting in front of Ressler and then walking really slowly so that he would accidentally kick him, and then whining all pathetically like he’d been attacked. Tiger watched him from on top of the TV with unblinking eyes.
Liz got changed and they spent the rest of the day relaxing on the couch, watching more horror movies she had previously been too afraid to see. Ressler had trouble taking them seriously because of all the inaccuracies, but he still enjoyed how every time there was a jump scare Liz shrieked and hid behind him.
Later that night as they were lying in bed together, her back once more flush against his, Ressler smiled to himself and tugged her closer. Maybe in another month or two he’d introduce her to Samar and Aram. He would of course, tell her to have Meera on standby with a hospital emergency to whisk her away.