AN: This last chapter and piece of goodness was written by wonderful redisthenewblackington. Personally I'd say there couldn't be a better ending to this. I can tell you co-writing a fic is fun! Thank you for staying with us. Your support is highly appreciated. You might recognize some lines from one of Spader's movies... stay alert ;)

Disclaimer: Check earlier chapters

Chapter 5

When they pulled apart, Red caught a brief flicker of darkness in Liz's eyes as she hastily turned her head to the side, resting it on his shoulder. "What is it?" He asked.

Thumbs anchored through his rear belt loops, she tightened her grip, staying close, but made no reply.

"Lizzie?" His tone sharpened with concern.

She shrugged, embarrassed and conflicted.

He carefully extricated himself from her grasp, took her shoulders and stepped back. "Talk to me."

"Just something your girlfriend said," Liz whispered, avoiding his eyes as if she were revealing a shameful secret.

"Do you mean something that you said? Lizzie, Catherine wasn't my girlfriend. We slept together occasionally, but nothing more. What did she say?"

"Really? She seemed a little possessive, and angry... Maybe that's because I laughed at her."

"Did you?" He chuckled and pulled her back to his chest again. "Well, what did she say that bothered you?"

She sighed and relented, "FIVE TIMES, RED? Did that really happen? Five times in one day? It's a little... intimidating. I'm not sure if I can.. measure up."

"Five times what? I don't understand."

Maybe she was lying then, Liz thought. Wouldn't he have known what she meant? Oh well. She knew that he wouldn't let it go. Might as well just say it. "She said that she um, made you climax... five times today."

Again, Red laughed, but much louder this time.

"Forget it, then."

"Seems I already have," he replied, dryly. After several seconds of silence, he realized that she needed further explanation. "I'm afraid she exaggerated."

"Oh?" Liz pulled back to study his face.

"Five for her, perhaps, but twice for me."

Liz scowled. She wasn't fond of the mental imagery, but she couldn't very well take it out on him. It was her fault for bringing it up. She walked over and sat down at the foot of the bed, patting the empty spot next to her in invitation.

Red sat beside her, quite pleased to not have to put any space between them. Eyes closed, Liz's head immediately dropped to his shoulder, and he lifted his hand to comb his fingers through her hair. "You look tired," he said. "Maybe you should get some sleep."

"I am." She nodded. "Sleep with me?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Liz winced, cheeks flushing sanguine. "I didn't mean..."

Red kissed the top of her head and replied, "I know what you meant, sweetheart, and I'd love to, but the Sheraton's not my scene."

"Oh... right."

"Share my bed instead?" he asked.

"That depends... do you have another one? Just not the one that you..." She didn't even want to finish the sentence. Maybe it was childish, but Liz knew that she wouldn't sleep well in their sex-scented linens, no matter the thread count.

"Several. I'll let you choose."

She lifted her head just enough to plant a kiss on his jaw. "In that case, I'm in."

"Be advised that I'm not a sound sleeper. All night long, I'm either rolling, kicking, or cuddling."

"I can deal with that."

"And I usually prefer to be the big spoon, unless... no, nevermind, you probably don't want to hear that. Too much, too soon."

Liz grabbed his hand and waggled her eyebrows. "You know very well that you wouldn't let me pull the 'nevermind card'. Spill it!"

"You may soon regret making that demand. Are you sure?"

This, of course, only made the question even more enticing. He had to know that, she thought. "I am."

"Alright, well, I very much enjoy being the little spoon, should the big spoon's hands have the inclination to wander..." He pursed his lips and batted his eyelashes in mock innocence.

"Hmm... Is that an invitation, Ray?"

"That would be awfully presumptuous, wouldn't it?"

"Might be. It is very forward." Liz found the thought alone deliciously enticing, and she blushed again. Glancing up at Red's grin, she suddenly felt emboldened. "What do you wear to sleep?"

"Mmm Lizzie, you've surprised me." He smacked his lips. "And here I was, worried that it was too soon for that topic."

"So... we've entered a world in which you're the naive, innocent one? How does that feel?" She paused to laugh, and then added, "You still have to answer."

"It feels titilating, actually, and I wear as little as I can get away with. I'll let you make that call."

Liz's fingers twitched in anticipation. "Hah! You would." Suddenly, she felt a little self-conscious about her own sleepwear. Sam's tshirt. The yoga pants. Both were comfy, but neither were particularly sexy. Oh well. She wasn't planning on having sex with him just yet anyway.

"Are you okay with leaving now?"

Her eyes quickly scanned over the room, deciding whether or not she'd need to bring anything with her. "Yeah, sure. Um, why don't you just go ahead? I'm gonna grab a few things, and I'll be right behind you."

"Okay." He stood up, kissed her temple, and left.

Liz quickly pulled off Sam's shirt, replaced it with a red spaghetti strapped tank top, and then swapped out her plain panties for boyshorts that matched the tank. It seemed like a safe balance between sexy and dowdy, right in the middle. She then emptied her gym bag and threw in a change of clothes and some toiletries.

Out in the parking lot, she saw Red leaning against her car with his arms crossed, waiting for her. "This isn't what I meant by 'go ahead'. I was going to meet you there."

"Oh. I misunderstood. Since I waited, allow me to drive anyway?" He wasn't insisting though, which was somewhat unusual, and Liz appreciated that enough to go along with it.

"Okay, sure." With a hand on her lower back, he lead her towards his car and opened the door for her.

Back at the safe house, they found Dembe sprawled out on the living room couch, drinking a beer and watching Cheers. He did a double-take when he saw Liz step out from behind Red, and she caught his gaze as it zeroed in on her overnight bag. Whatever they had just become (a couple?), it seemed awfully sudden for someone else to know about it already.

Dembe wasn't just any "someone else" though, Liz reminded herself. He's Red's number one, right-hand confidant. He knew a lot more about Red than she did. Heck, prior to this moment, he probably even knew more about their relationship too. Most recent case in point? That stupid contract.

He smiled and waved, "Good evening, Agent Keen."

Liz blushed and flashed an excessively-toothy grin. "Hey there. Call me Liz." It wasn't the first time that she had told him that. In fact, it had become their standard greeting, up until about a month ago when she had given up. It seemed like an appropriate moment to give it another shot, and Liz had a feeling that it might actually stick this time.

In an attempt to seem breezy and unfazed by the situation, she exclaimed, "Oh I love this show! Sam Malone is still my favorite Red Sox player."

Red scowled and shook his head as if he were offended. "You're kidding."

"Yes, Captain Obvious. It's hard to seriously make such a claim about a fictious character."

Red's chin lifted, masking his vaguely bruised ego. "Touché."

"I'm a little surprised, Red. I never pegged you for a sports fan."

"I'm not. The Red Sox are different! Anyway, shall we go choose a bed?"

Liz blushed again, her eyes darting between Red and Dembe. "Yes, let's."

She picked a room on the third floor, facing the backyard. It bore a striking resemblance to the rooms in so many of Red's other safe houses. It was dimly lit, decorated with a palette of earth tones, a persian rug, heavy drapes, and an expensive painting hanging over the four-poster bed. Liz was drawn to the room for one particular reason- the bed's gauzey canopy, which seemed endowed with a whimsy that was slightly out of place.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Liz walked over towards the window and kicked off her yoga pants, pretending to be preoccupied with the view outside. She could feel Red's appreciative gaze on her backside, and stood still for a moment, giving him ample time to look. When she turned around, the enraptured expression on his face made her legs unsteady. Within seconds, he closed the gap between them and pulled her close for a deep, languid kiss, his hands slipping down to her ass, pulling her tightly against him. The sudden contact made them both gasp.

When he pulled back, Red said, "Do you mind if I go take a shower real quick? You can go ahead and hop into bed now, if you'd like. I'll join you right after."

"Yeah, no problem." She made no mention of it, but Liz had been hoping that he would do exactly that, to wash off whatever remained of that other woman. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes. Within seconds, a salacious thought entered her mind. What if he wasn't only showering for the usual, "getting clean" reason? Maybe he was... taking care... of himself. After that kiss, it would be understandable. Oddly enough, Liz found the thought touching, pun not intended, if he was exercising such self-control for her sake. She was tempted, so very tempted to sneak in to find out. He'd even left the door cracked!

She maintained mastery over her curiosity for all of two minutes, and then slowly crawled to the edge of the bed, as if worried that he could somehow hear the sounds of the mattress dipping under her displaced weight. She peeled back the canopy and eased her bare feet onto the floor. Tip-toeing towards the bathroom, she stopped in her tracks as another thought dawned on her. If her suspicions were correct, then what exactly did she intend to do about it, anyway? Offer a hand? She almost snorted aloud. That would be crazy. Ridiculous, even. And despite the day's events finally turning in her favor, she still hadn't completely forgiven him for that stupid stunt with the contract.

Curiousity won, so before pressing on, Liz decided that either way, she would do NOTHING about it. She wouldn't do anything, and she wouldn't say anything. She'd just turn back around, hop into bed, and pray that he wouldn't catch her blushing.

With one hand on the door, she pushed it open slowly, breathing a huge sigh of relief that the hinges didn't creak. The built-up steam rushed out, but Liz could hear nothing over the sound of the shower, so she tiptoed closer, and stuck her head around the corner.

BRILLIANT, LIZ!

The shower, rather than being enclosed by a curtain, was instead enclosed by glass, and only the bottom half was frosted. She caught a glimpse of the side of Red's head, but as far as she could tell, he wasn't "taking care of himself". Immediately, Liz turned on her toes and ran back to the bed, pulling the covers up over her head. Shame and embarrassment swirled deep in her gut. No chance in hell that she wasn't blushing. Not knowing whether or not he had seen her, she did her best to pretend that she had fallen asleep.

Minutes later, Red strolled in wearing only a towel around his waist. He evidently wasn't fooled into thinking that she was awake. "Have you given any thought to my sleepwear?"

She rolled over to face him and swallowed at the sight before her. That chest hair was just begging to be touched. She bit her lip. "Hm? I'm sorry, what was that?"

He cracked a smile and patiently repeated himself.

"Oh, right. I guess just... just your boxers would be fine." No chance she'd want him to cover that chest, but being totally nude seemed like too much of an invitation.

"I'm not shy about my body, you know."

God, OF COURSE he wasn't. Why on earth would he be? "I've no doubt."

"So if you wanted to check out the goods, no need to be shy about it."

"Actually, 'the goods' are still a mystery."

"So you're saying that you weren't in the bathroom ten minutes ago?"

Shitshitshit! He knows. No sense in denying it. "No, I was."

"I know. I felt the cold air rush in, and you left the door wide open."

"I just.. I had to pee."

"But you didn't."

Thinking fast, she replied without missing a beat, "Oh my goodness, after realizing that you'd be able to see me? That's a little outside of my comfort zone." She wasn't thrilled about lying to him, but at least he couldn't prove that it wasn't the truth.

"Fair enough. Well, if you'll excuse me one last time, I'll grab those boxers from the other room. Unless, of course... that won't be necessary." He grinned, eyebrows waggling suggestively.

"Nice try! Go get 'em."

As she watched him go, Liz saw what she'd secretly been dreading- the burn scars. Along with his tattoos, they were noted on his FBI dossier under the category of "distinguishing marks". The cause wasn't included, but she had a pretty good idea. They were breath-takingly awful, far worse than she had imagined. When he disappeared from her view, it occurred to Liz that she didn't even check out how his ass had looked in the towel. The fact that she had noticed the scars before his ass spoke volumes about just how bad they were.

She could barely suppress the urge to ask about them, but she'd already been punished enough for one day's curiosity. If he happened to bring up the subject on his own, then she was more than happy to listen. Otherwise? Some other time, then.

That meant that she'd have to trust Red implicitly, and not just about this, but about everything. In many ways, she already did, but her heart was still vulnerable. Unconditional trust wasn't exactly "easy come, easy go". It never had been, and it never would be.

Red soon returned with a little spring in his step, apparently pleased by the way that she was looking at him. His smug grin was toothier than usual. Cocky bastard.
He peeled back the canopy and crawled into bed. Lying on his back, he pulled her in closely with an arm around her shoulders. Liz positioned herself on her side, her head resting on his chest, and her knee hitched up to rest on his upper thighs. Her free hand gravitated to his shoulder, squeezing and pulling herself closer.

"I love this canopy. It's like we're in our own little bubble," Red said.

"Yeah, me too. Our cocoon. Our nest. Our secret hideaway. Just... safe."

Red extricated her hand from his shoulder and held onto it, lacing their fingers together. "No blacklisters. No distractions. Just us. I think I just found my new favorite place."

Curiosity struck once more. There was still so much that she wanted to know, and not just the things that linked them, but the little mundane facts that come gradually and naturally while getting to know someone intimately. Being unable to ask about the big things, the little ones suddenly became inordinately important. One by one, Liz began to softly ask questions, but Red seemed too engrossed in his tactile exploration to answer. He had dropped her hand to first wander the length of her ribcage, and then the smooth plane between her hip bones. She enjoyed his touch too much to be annoyed by the silence.

"Where did you go to high school?"

"What was your mother like?"

"What was her name?"

"What did it say under your senior yearbook picture?"

"Who was your first Iove?"

"When did your heart first get broken?"

"Where were you born?"

He gently reclaimed the arm that was around her shoulders and turned on his side to face her. "Des Moines, Iowa."

Grinning, Liz grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in for a deep, open-mouthed kiss. He seemed to melt under her lips, humming with delight, and so she scooted closer and wound an arm around his back, holding him tightly.

Suddenly Liz pulled back, panting and apologetic. The confused disappointment in Red's eyes tugged at her heartstrings. "Wait, I'm sorry. Is it okay if I take a rain check on where this is headed? It's just so..."

"Soon?" he asked. Liz nodded. "Of course it's okay, sweetheart. Here, turn over. I'll be the big spoon." As she complied, he brushed aside the hair that covered her neck, and gently kissed her carotid pulse, holding her close. "Thank you for giving me a chance, Lizzie." It took him almost two hours to fall asleep, but he didn't mind at all.

Liz woke just before sunrise to find a very solid and fast-asleep Red pressed against the small of her back. It wasn't a surprise, and no, she certainly didn't mind. The tough part was deciding what to do about it, if anything at all, but one thing was clear. Red had a lot for her to be curious about, and to be honest, that was exactly what Liz had expected.

She gently redirected the hand at her waist up to her breast and used light pressure on the back of his fingers to get him to squeeze it. Since he had told her that he wasn't a sound sleeper, she thought that it would be enough to wake him, but it wasn't.

Oh, to hell with it. In his bed, Liz concluded, good fortune probably favored the bold. She leaned back against him and wiggled a bit, using his hand to grope her harder. Red sighed and tightened his grip, pulling her closer and eliciting a gasp. Startled by the sudden realization of who he had in his arms, he recoiled, not yet knowing that an advance would have been welcomed.

Liz sighed and rolled over to face him, lightly tracing her fingers along his jaw before leaning in for a kiss. "Good morning," she whispered, and then deepened the kiss before he had a chance to reply. She was still a little nervous, but it somehow only added to the thrill. A shiver raced down her spine as she slowly lowered one hand between them.

Red caught her wrist. "Are you sure? A few hours ago, you said it was too soon."

"It was, and now it's not." She met his steady gaze and held it, as if she were accepting a challenge.

Perhaps for the first time, Red recognized her as an equal, and his eyes ignited instantly. In his heart, she was still perched upon a pedestal, but he no longer feared that he might break her. If anything, it seemed more likely that she could break him, but he was more than willing to take that risk.

He gripped her hips and pulled her on top of him. Liz rocked forward onto her knees, hovering as she raked her fingers through his chest hair, moaning into his mouth.

THIS was really happening, and reality had already surpassed her dreams by far. Unlike the dreams, Liz knew that she would walk away satisfied and slightly sore.

Red grabbed the hem of her tank top and lifted it up, over her head, and tossed it to the floor with panache. As he took in the sight of her breasts, Liz widened her knees and sank down. He gave her a moment to grind against him, dropping his hands to her ass, pulling her in and increasing the pressure with every rock of her hips.

The intensity of the moment took her there quickly. Just before she started to shake, Red flipped her onto her back and then rolled over on his side. Her frustrated groan was cut short by his mouth on her breast, and his hand lightly skimming under the waistband of her panties. Her hips lifted to meet his touch.

"Are you trying to rush me?" he asked.

"Who me?" Liz replied, smirking as she ineffectively tugged at his boxers. "Haven't I waited long enough? Don't you want to make love to me?"

"Yes, maybe, and more than anything." He climbed on top of her, settled his elbows on either side of her shoulders, and pinned one knee between her thighs to make them part. Lips crushed against hers, Liz couldn't ask any more questions. He kissed her like it wasn't foreplay, but was instead the main act, and as if it was imperative that both his lips and tongue memorize every bit of her mouth. She found herself wondering what else he could do with that skilled tongue.

As if Red could read her mind, he pulled away and crawled backwards, slipping off her panties as he went. He hooked her legs over his shoulders and purred with delight at the sight before him. "Shaven, hm? For future reference, it isn't necessary, but I do appreciate a clean work space."

Liz giggled as he dragged his stubbly cheeks along her inner thighs, and then conscious thought escaped her completely. His tongue was very skilled, indeed. After she came, Red kicked off his boxers and kissed his way back up her body.

Still, he seemed intent on taking his time, pressing against her as she nipped along his neck and dug her nails into his back, lifting her hips and doing everything just short of verbally begging for him. Eyes locked on hers, Red finally pushed forward, and then pulled back again. He moved slowly, letting her adjust around him, and going just a bit further with each rock of his hips. When he was finally all the way in, filling her completely, Liz grabbed his hips to still him there for a moment, and then wrapped her legs around his waist. As they began to move in a metronome-perfect rhythm, Liz noticed that he had even synced his breath with hers. His laser-like gaze never wavered.

For a moment, Red's arms wrapped around her back, lifting and cradling her torso, hearts beating erratically against one another. He rolled them over, so that Liz was on top of him. With a groan, she pressed her palms into the pillow on either side of his head, and tried to push herself up into a sitting position. He preemptively wrapped his arms around her back to hold her in place. "I know this must be hard for you, but we can't both lead," Liz said with a sly wink.

"Sure we can, this time." But he relinquished his hold and contented himself with watching her take charge. She set a pace that made it quite difficult for him to hold back, but he tried.

Quite fortunately for both of them, Liz quickly noticed the tension in his brow, and leaned forward to lay on top of him again, slowly rolling her hips. He gripped her waist and applied pressure at exactly the right angle to push her over the edge once more. As her head began to swim, Red let go at exactly the right moment, his throbbing heat triggering the extension of their mutual release.

Curled comfortably against his chest, Liz realized that making love was easily the least complicated interaction that they'd ever had. For the first time ever, she knew that Red had given her the whole truth.

Against her expectations, it was enough.

"I'm still an FBI agent, you know," she whispered into his ear, as if it were a secret.

"Of course you are," Red replied.

"But in case you're wondering, you're much more than just an asset." Hand grazing over his scalp, she pressed her lips to his.

"And you're more than just an agent."