Please see first chapter for disclaimer regarding Blacklist. (Of course I don't own it! I'm just borrowing for entertainment purposes.) I was only able to reply to a few reviews before kept giving me an error but please know I greatly appreciate all of your reviews and continued support. FYI this has not been reviewed by a Beta- all the mistakes are entirely my own.

I also want to thank all of my friends in TBL fandom - you are truly amazing and I'm so thankful that something as simple as a TV show brought you into my life. Thank you all!

On with the show:

Aram drummed his fingers nervously against his steering wheel, glancing up at the hotel currently residing at the address Agent Malik had reported to him. Part of him was petrified at the idea of entering an unknown location, the ambiguity awaiting him was terrifying. It was that part of him that was now cautiously glancing now at the passenger seat, where his standard issue 9mm service pistol sat staring up at him.

The other part of him, reminded him that it was Agent Keen's life in danger. The woman that had believed in him, guided and protected him. The friend who had helped him survive the Garrick attack by reminding him to pretend they were 'just paper'. He would never be comfortable taking a life, he had sought council and grieved for that man he had killed but he wouldn't have made a different choice in that moment. The moment had come down to his friends and comrades or the enemy: he would make the same choice every time. It was the first time in his life he truly felt like a hero. Not the behind-the-scenes kind, but the front and center- I'd take a bullet for you- hero. It wasn't because he killed someone, no, that would haunt him for the rest of his life, but what helped him sleep at night, were the lives he'd saved; including Agent Keen's. She had believed in him then and he needed to be that man again now.

Picking up his weapon, Aram holstered it in his shoulder holster beneath his jacket. "I can do this." He told himself, before gathering his laptop and exiting the car.

It didn't take him long to locate the room number. He paused, only momentarily, to gather his courage before he rapped sharply on the door three times and waited eagerly for the door to open. With each passing moment, Aram felt his courage waning. Each pulsation in his veins, felt like ice slowly creeping through his body.

Glancing down the hallway in each direction, Aram began to panic that he had been set up. Switching his laptop to his other hand, he reached inside his jacket, grasping tightly to the handle of his service pistol just as the door swung open.

Meera Malik stood just inside the open door, her own weapon aimed directly between Aram's eyes. "Remove your hand slowly...Now!"

Panicking, Aram removed his hand from his weapon and put both hands up, careful not to drop his laptop. "I thought I was being set up." He stuttered as she grabbed his shirt, yanking him inside.

Pinning him against the wall, using her forearm, Meera relieved him of his weapon and began checking him for a wire. "Were you followed? Who knows about this?"

"I-I-I wasn't followed. N-No one knows. I..I found it on my own." Aram stammered out quickly.

Meera was more than skeptical, "How?" She inquired, taking a step back slowly.

"We don't have time for this." Kate interrupted, storming down the hallway past Meera to grab Aram by the chin forcing him to look at her. " I don't care how you did it. You are coming with us. Right Now. We're moving to the safe house to meet and debrief Mr. Reddington."

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Tick...Tick...Tick

Liz heard the tell tale sound of a clock as she slowly slipped back into consciousness. It was the absence of the other hospital noises that startled her.

Tick...Tick...Tick

She heard no steady rhythmic whirring of machines or intercoms pages. The room around her felt warm and comforting, not cold and sterile.

Tick...Tick...Tick

Liz noticed the bed she was laying on felt different too. The blanket tucked around her was soft and warm compared to the scratchy material of her hospital blanket. The mattress felt pillow soft and seemed to embrace her body rather than just support her prone figure.

Forcing herself to push through the haze of sleep, Liz finally found herself staring up at a cream colored ceiling. Taking time to admire the beauty of the crown molding, she eased slowly back into full consciousness.

When the feeling of drowsiness began to subside, Liz tried to push herself up against the headboard when two large, warm hands gently pressed her shoulders back down, "Don't move Lizzie. You're still healing."

Red stood above her- easing her back down. He was truly a sight for sore eyes- a sight she never thought she'd see again. "Dr. Ware told me I...did I really die?"

Red paused briefly to just look at her, realizing just how close they had truly come to never having this moment together. "One minute and 36 seconds."

Fear streaked across her face at his confirmation. "I thought I'd never see you again." Liz admitted quietly.

"But I found you-" His answered, his hand sliding slowly down her arm, "I will always find you." Grasping her hand gently, he smiled at her. "Don't you think it was a little extreme to get my attention, though? You could have just called." He tried to bring some levity to their conversation but it wasn't well received.

"I did-" Liz said softly, "Numerous times, you never answered." She finished, grimacing only slightly from the twinge in her chest.

Red noticed her discomfort immediately, "Dr. Ware has been monitoring you very closely. She said you're a fighter: obviously something I was already clearly aware of on a personal level." He chuckled deep in his throat, attempting to keep the conversation light after so much darkness. "She said a little rest and you'll be good as new."

Squeezing his hand gently, Liz smiled weakly up at him. "Have you slept at all since your little cat nap in the hospital?" It was clear from his ragged appearance, he was beginning to get run down as well.

"I'm fine," He answered waving her off. "Although a few weeks resting in Villa Honegg with a clear view of the Stairway to Heaven as our morning view wouldn't be remiss."

"Switzerland?" Liz asked, tilting her head slightly. " Will you tell me about it?" She asked, patting the bed beside her.

Helping her slide over slowly, Red gently maneuvered himself beside her on the bed. "It's absolutely stunning this time of year." He replied, settling himself next to her. Taking great care while gathering her up in his arms, he used his free hand to softly stroke her hair as he spoke. Tucking it neatly behind her ear, grazing it ever so finely. "The first rays of the morning offer such a serene vision as you peer out over the stratus clouds just beginning their ascension towards the heavens."

Closing her eyes , Liz just laid there with him. Her head resting on his strong chest, the steady rhythm of his heart beat a hypnotic cadence rivaled only by the dulcet tone of his voice. Red continued on with a story from his past visit to Villa Honegg but she couldn't concentrate on anything he was saying. One minute 36 Seconds.

This. Them. Almost had ended before it even could begin. She had died. Paralyzingly fear began to take hold, every single nerve ending around her numerous injuries seemed to inflame all at once. She died. She had been dead and the gravity of that realization was more than she could process at that moment.

"I've never been able to look at a jacuzzi the-" Red felt the change in her immediately. Her entire frame seized, every muscle in her body contracted at once. "Lizzie, what's wrong?" He asked softly, rolling her back onto the pillow so he could observe her.

Leaning back slightly, he took in her ghostly white appearance. Her breathing and pulse were erratic and he could feel her body shaking. He knew. She didn't have to tell him, to explain what she was going through. He'd felt this himself before. "Lizzie, look at me."

Red kept his voice low but firm- she needed something to focus on. To give her an anchor. When she didn't respond, he used two fingers to encourage her to look at him. "Look at me Sweetheart. Breathe."

Liz felt trapped inside her own body. Everything felt too much all at once and yet completely empty. Cold seeped into her entire being. She had died. Tears began slipping down her cheeks, as she tried to catch her breath.

"I'm here Lizzie, you are safe." Red continued to reassure her. When she wouldn't look at him, he changed tactics. Slowly, he brought her hand up to his cheek as he laid beside her. "You're here with me." Kissing her palm first, he laid it on his chest above his heart so she could feel the constant beating of his heart and slow steady breaths he was taking. "You are safe. I'm here and I love you, Elizabeth."

The sound of her name on his lips caused the dam to burst wide open inside her. "I'm so scared…" She whispered to him, opening her eyes she locked onto Red's, "I don't want to die." With her words, the floodgates opened and she clung to him.

Deep, gut wrenching sobs, cut him deeply as she clung desperately to him. He knew that pain. The traumatic realization of what had truly occurred and what the outcome could have been. He understood. He'd felt it himself before, as well as while he looked down upon her in that warehouse, begging her to fight. To live: for him.

"You've got it all wrong, Sweetheart." He whispered to her, brushing his lips against her forehead as he held her tightly. "Death is easy. You don't have to do anything. Life is the hard part. It's fighting, and it's everyday day, but when you have people who love you - well it makes it all worth it."

"They-they'll never stop..coming for us." She managed to get out between her double breathing from the crying.

"I'll never let anything happen to you again." Red knew he needed to offer her tactile sensations to ground her, to show her she was safe, very much alive, and in no danger. Adjusting them slowly, careful not to jostle her too much, he pulled her into him fixing the blanket around them. "Sleep now. I've got you."

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"Are we there yet?" Aram asked, using the back of his hand to wipe at the beads of sweat on his forehead. All the occupants of the dark van turned to him with irritated looks on their faces, including Meera. Raising his hands, he lowered his head sheepishly, "I'm sorry! It's just I-I get car sick."

The van was traveling down an extremely bumpy road and the movement compounded with the lack of air movement in the cramped van was wreaking havoc on Aram's system. Leaning backwards, he tried to rest his face against the cool metal of the van.

"Honestly!" Meera hissed at him, throwing a plastic bag in his direction. " How did you become an FBI agent?"

Aram reached for the bag, trying to grab it before it hit the ground. "I'm trained for technical work, not field missions." He retorted quickly, covering his mouth as he gagged involuntarily.

Meera turned away from him, "If you puke on me, I'll shoot you."

Aram sat up straighter and swallowed hard, cringing at the taste of bile burning his esophagus.

Me. Kaplan turned around in the passenger seat to address the back of the van, "We're here." She clipped off as the van came to an abrupt stop.

Opening her door, she exited the van just as the side door slid open revealing a large historical looking home.

Aram stumbled out quickly, accidentally bumping into Seymour as he tried to right himself. "You really aren't very good at this are you?" Seymour replied, trying to help Aram right himself.

He didn't have a chance to respond before Mr. Kaplan started directing everyone. "Primary COM is set up in the formal living room, tactical is in the dining room. Set up and prepare for debrief."

Turning from the group, she headed up the stairs to a waiting Dembe who followed her inside, as they engaged in a conversation immediately.

"Aram- you're with Seymour. I will be with tactical." Meera directed, then headed for the house.

Both men stood still, watching the flurry of activity before them as others headed in the house peeling off in all directions. "If you're gonna puke- I'd do it now. I won't tell anyone." Seymour glanced sideways at Aram before taking off for the house himself.

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"How is she doing?" Kate inquired, following Dembe up the stairs towards the room where Red and Liz were. " Better question: how is he handling it?"

"Raymond is - dealing. Elizabeth is alive. It will take time to heal but she survived." Dembe paused, they stood outside of one of the large bedroom doors on the second floor and he knocked lightly once before reaching for the handle.

Turning the handle slowly, Dembe pressed the door open and peered inside, coming to a halt immediately at the sight. There before him lay Raymond stretched out on the bed, who appeared to be finally sleeping. He was holding tightly to Elizabeth, who appeared to be clinging to him even in her own sleep. He could still hear the faint sound of sniffling from Elizabeth, indicative that she had, in all probability, cried herself to sleep.

Backing out slowly, he eased the door closed, careful not to wake the occupants of the room. "They both appear to be sleeping finally- for however brief a moment. We will come back." Dembe informed Kate, placing his hand at her elbow to begin directing her back down the stairs.

Shaking her head and throwing off his hand, she reached for the door handle. "No, he wanted to be updated immediately upon our arrival. Time is of the essence right now with our intel."

Dembe swiftly grasped her hand, effectively stopping her movement towards the handle. "Kate- this is not up for discussion." Standing his ground, Dembe released her arm, "We will wait."

After a brief stand off, Kate nodded tersely and retreated back down the hallway to prepare for their debrief.

After watching her descend down the stairs, Dembe took a seat in the chair opposite the door to stand guard for his friend.

A/N: I cannot apologize enough for the 2 year delay. All I can say is how thankful I am to continue this and thank everyone for their kind words and continued enjoyment as well as encouragement to complete it. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and hope to keep writing.

Thank you all once again!

Always,

Lady