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takadasaiko · 6 years

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Breathe Again Beneath the Flames: Chapter Twenty-Three

FFN II AO3

Summary: Agnes receives her own mini op, Scottie approaches Katarina, and the Keens meet with the Task Force to discuss options.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The morning had not gone as planned. They were supposed to be up at the break of dawn, ready to get Agnes up with them and out, but the home video marathon had gone longer than either Tom or Liz had anticipated. Once they had finally gotten to bed, Agnes had come into their room and landed right in the middle of them as they were dozing off. She hadn't just curled up with them and fallen asleep though. Instead she had turned and flailed and wallowed all over them so that no one slept until the earliest hours of the morning. The alarm had gone off twice by the time Tom had finally roused the girls out of bed and breakfast had to be in the go.

"Has your coffee kicked in before mine or did I miss something?" Liz groused as she pulled Agnes out of her car seat in the back of their borrowed vehicle.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked and instantly took the squirming, cranky child when she reached for him. Agnes melted against his shoulder, her little arms right around his neck.

"You've been in a mood the last two days, but you actually look happy to be up at this hour. What am I missing?"

"Just enjoying this," he said, motioning the best he could between them. "We're close, Liz. Not there, but soon."

He didn't miss the hesitant look she shot him as she turned to grab Agnes' bag and shut the car door. "I hope you're right."

He offered her a lopsided smile. "Grab my wallet with the keycard for me? I've got my hands full."

Agnes shifted against him and he kissed the side of her head. Liz went for his wallet as he had asked and, even expecting it, he barely felt her pull it from his jeans pocket. Half asleep she still made a talented pickpocket. "You know, we would have caused a lot of trouble if we'd known each other as kids," he teased, and that finally pulled a smile from his exhausted wife.

She tipped up on her toes and kissed his scruffy cheek. "Trouble would have been an understatement," she promised and pulled the ID card that Scottie had given him to enter the building out, pressing it against the card reader and they received a satisfying beep before the door clicked open for them.

Halcyon's headquarters in New York City housed a little bit of everything. They stretched from the top floor executive offices down to the operations facilities below ground level. Between that lay entire floors dedicated to research, technology, and Halcyon Aegis' own private medical wing. Howard had been transferred despite a grumbling physician at Bellevue, and seeing him was the Keens' goal before leaving to meet with their teams.

The elevator ride up made Agnes squirm, but she didn't fully wake up until the doors opened to release them out into the small lobby. She straightened a little more in her daddy's arms, turning to take in the sights.

The nurse at the front desk let them in without missing a beat and led them back through a set of locked doors to a secured room. Halcyon operatives stood guard at the door, but they gave Tom and his family a sharp nod as they allowed them through.

Howard was already awake and sitting up in the bed. The cast on his left wrist reached halfway up to his arm and his opposite leg was elevated. He looked good though. Certainly better than he had been when they had first seen him after the rescue. He was going over something on a tablet with Dumont DeSoto at his bedside. Dumont looked up and his entire expression lit. "Is that who I think it is?"

Tom echoed the expression. "Hey, baby girl. You get a two for one today. Who's that?"

"Mont!" Agnes cheered, suddenly wide awake and squirming.

Howard chuckled from the bed as the little girl launched herself at the tech expert. "Thanks a lot, princess."

"She only likes me for the toys," Dumont said lightly.

"Do I get a present?" Agnes asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking straight up at him expectedly.

"I'm workin' on something extra special for you," he promised.

Tom leaned over to Liz. "Dumont designed Agnes' tablet and a couple of other toys while she was with me at the bunker. Pretty sure she's claimed him as a lifelong friend."

He watched his wife's expression shift to the a strange mix of amusement and sadness that it always did when he spoke about Agnes coming to stay with him when she had left for Alaska.

"Have you had any luck with the film?"

"Heard back from the labs this morning when I got here. Some of it was damaged, so they're still trying to clear some of the images up."

"Do we know what the photos are, though?" Liz asked.

Dumont shrugged. "Looked like family photos, from what I saw. Hard to tell. I gotta get over to the site. Get everything swept and ready for our visitors."

Liz looked towards the hallway. "Are we sure it's not safer to meet here?"

"We keep a collection of safe sites around the city that are better for what you need," Howard explained. "Out of the way of prying eyes and ears."

"Got a new car for you to take. Everything'll be set up and ready when you get there," Dumont promised, handing over an envelope. "See you two in a bit."

Tom took what was offered and turned back to Howard. Agnes was already crawling up on the bed with him, asking if his leg and arm hurt and if they were still going to the park. "Soon," her grandfather promised before turning his gaze up towards Tom and Liz. "How was the house?"

"Kinda unnerving," Tom laughed and shrugged. "If you and Scottie were hoping to jar any memories by having us stay there it hasn't worked yet."

"She did point us in the direction of some photos last night," Liz said, a little mischief making its way into her eyes.

Tom rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah. The VHS's too."

His wife's expression turned a little more devious and Howard huffed a laugh. "We bought the video recorder not long before you were born and got our money's worth," he explained. There certainly hadn't been any shortage of photos in the library, and while Tom and Liz had plenty of photos and videos of Agnes, it was strange to see his own childhood like that. Up until he had met Scottie and seen the photo of the three of them at the beach, Tom hadn't seen a photo of himself that young. If any of his foster parents had taken photos, they hadn't traveled with him, and the Phelps' sure hadn't been the type to care enough. Scottie, though, had apparently enjoyed documenting the first nearly four years of his life if her collection had been anything to go by.

"Daddy, what'sa VS?" Agnes asked from the bed.

He choked on a laugh. "VHS. It's what people used to record on before you could just save it on your phone."

"Like a million years ago?"

"Now you're just being mean," he teased her and she giggled as he hauled her up in the air and kissed one of her round cheeks.

"I take it your mother's already left?" Howard prompted.

"Yeah. She was out before we got up this morning." A small frown tugged at him. "I don't like that she's going without backup."

"Backup would give her away. Trust her. She knows what she's doing."

"Who are you and what have you done with Howard?"

His father chuckled at that, inching down against the pillows a little. He looked tired, but that was to be expected after everything. After a moment he cracked an eye open. "Candy's just getting some coffee. Agnes and I'll be just fine if you need to head out."

That sparked the little girl off and she turned towards her parents, tears building in her blue eyes and a high pitched whine starting in her throat as she reached for her daddy. Tom felt guilt tug at him as he scooped her up and she reached to pull her mom closer too.

"Don't go," Agnes singled and Tom kissed her dark hair.

"Hey?" He waited until she leaned back to look him in the eye. "Here's the thing, kiddo," Tom whispered a little conspiratorially and his daughter perked up at the secretive tone. "Your grandpa's gonna need to stay in bed for a few days, but he's stubborn. He needs someone to make sure he's safe, so it's not so much that he's taking care of you as you're taking care of him. Can you do that for me?"

She thought about that for a second, her little nose scrunching up and she looked back at Howard for a moment, not entirely convinced.

"I need you to be really brave to do this," Tom told her.

"I'm brave," she said firmly.

"I know you are, baby girl. You're so brave." He kissed her forehead. "We love you so much."

"And we'll be back soon," Liz promised and Agnes nodded.

"Okay."

She let him set her down again on the bed and they said their goodbyes, promising that they wouldn't be gone long this time. It was hurting Liz as much as it was him, and he knew it as her hand dropped into his and squeezed hard as they walked down the hall. "You're amazing with her," she said softly.

"She's smart. She may not understand everything that's going on, but she knows it's dangerous. She's scared." He nudged her a little, trying to lighten the heavy conversation just a little. "I think she may like us."

That pulled a smile from Liz. "Are we… do you think we're doing the right thing with her? Do you think-?"

Tom stopped in the empty hall and turned to his wife, locking eyes with her and holding her gaze. "I think we're doing the best we can in an impossible situation. We're trying to keep our family safe."

Liz nodded and he tightened his hold on her hand. "Love you." She tipped up on her toes and the kiss eased his raw nerves. He could feel the desperation and the fear, but he could also feel the hope and trust. They had each other's backs, and they would do whatever they had to to keep their family safe.

Scottie had made contact with Katarina and set up the meet for that morning. She had heard the brief pause of surprise when she had, their last conversation leaving the other woman with no reason to think Scottie would reach out so soon. It had peaked her curiosity, just as Scottie had known it would. That didn't mean that she was fool enough to think Katarina would let her curiosity get the better of her.

The dark haired woman checked her watch, frowning. She had expected Kat to be late, but this was ridiculous. She was an hour past the meet time, which was quickly moving from establishing dominance to wasting Scottie's time.

She was halfway to standing from her place on the park bench when Katarina appeared from behind and took a seat next to her. "They say patience is a virtue."

"They have more time to waste than I do," Scottie half growled.

Katarina hummed, but there would be no explanation- much less an apology - any time soon. "I heard you went in personally after Howard. How did it feel to be in the field again after so long?"

Scottie's dark eyes shifted to look at Katarina without turning her head. A small smirk played on her lips. "Invigorating."

"You're welcome."

"For what, exactly?

The redhead shrugged. "Giving you the chance to experience that again. I take it your gratitude isn't the reason for your visit."

Scottie's lips thinned. "Did you tell Reddington that Christopher is alive?" The question hung in the air for a long moment before Scottie turned to look fully at Kat. "I refuse to stop them from pursuing the Oleander lead and suddenly Reddington knows. The timing is suspicious if nothing else."

"We need Raymond," Katarina answered after a long moment. "He would have found out eventually."

"And now he's leveraging my son's health."

The former KGB operative rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. He's applying pressure where it's needed to keep this running as smoothly as it can." She glanced over and she lost the levity in her voice. "We're moving towards the endgame, Scottie. We've been fighting this war for years, even if it's been quietly. The children are impulsive and only know a fraction of what the Cabal is capable of and we needRaymond as much as we need you and your husband. He won't hurt the boy. You know he won't."

There it was. The opening that Scottie had hoped would present itself. "You can guarantee that?"

"I can, and I will. I just need to know that you're on my side as much as I'm on yours.

Scottie remained silent for a long moment, letting Katarina believe she was weighing her options. "I am," she said softly, "and that's one reason that I wanted to meet today."

Katarina straightened a little. "What do you mean?"

"Elizabeth knows you're alive."

"Did you tell her?"

"No." She waited, hoping that the partial lie would have enough truth in it that it would pass by her old friend. Liz had already known Katarina was alive, Scottie had only confirmed it.

"Her partner," Katarina murmured distractedly before meeting my her gaze again. "How did she react?"

"I thought you didn't care what your daughter thought of you," Scottie said slyly.

Kat shot her a glare. "I need to know how to approach the situation. Ignoring it won't help anyone." She pulled in a deep breath and her gaze was sharp. "I'll need you to set a meet."

The warehouse was locked down tight, though no one on the outside would ever know. It reminded Liz of the times that they had used one of Reddington's locations that he had set up. Personal phones were left at the door, the windows were darkened so that passerbyers couldn't see in, and there was a sense of secrecy that blanketed the space from the moment they walked in. She was a little surprised that no one took their weapons at the door, but they were supposed to be able to trust each other there. Despite everything that had happened between the Task Force and Halcyon's Grey Matters division, they needed to be able to trust each other.

They weren't the first to arrive. Her team was already there and Aram was picking Dumont's brain on some piece of tech, the other man grinning like crazy at the chance to talk to someone who could follow how he put it together. Cooper was standing to the side with Samar and Ressler, the latter peeling off when he saw the Keens enter.

Tom gave Ressler a quick nod of greeting before giving them the moment that her partner seemed to be looking for. "Everything okay?" Liz prompted.

"Your mother paid me a visit," Ressler said roughly.

Well that hadn't been what she expected to hear. "Why?"

"She knew I was looking into her," he said in hushed tones.

"You never actually said why you were."

"Tom didn't tell you?"

"We've been a little busy." She glanced over to where her husband was speaking with the Task Force and Dumont. "It'll be a few minutes before the rest of Tom's team gets here. Why don't you fill me in?"

She watched his expression shift to something like guilt, his gaze dropping. "It's….I assumed he told you."

"Why don't you tell me now?" she pressed again, leaning back against a table to ease her posture. Whatever this was was making him more nervous than she had seen him in years. Maybe since his struggle against drug addiction. Her jaw tightened a little at the thought and she reached out, startling him a little as she touched his hand. "Ress, whatever this is, you know we have your back, right? I have your back."

He swallowed hard and she listened as he spoke in low, halted tones about something he had been struggling with even before Garvey's attack and her time away from her team. This had been going on for well over a year, starting with Laurel Hitchin's death. He had called a fixer and he had covered it up and he had been in the man's pocket since then. Looking back Liz could fill in the gaps in what had happened and things made more sense.

"Rostova killed Prescott," Ressler said softly.

"But why did she go to you?"

"To let me know exactly what she knew about me. She wanted… information."

It felt her temper boil. "About me."

"And what you and Tom have planned." His clear, pained gaze flickered to meet hers. "I told her to go to hell."

Liz tried for a reassuring smile. "We'll figure this out, Ressler. We won't let her ruin your career."

He shook his head. "I don't care. I'm done, Liz. I'm here to help you one last time, but I have my resignation drafted. It's going to Cooper as soon as this is done. I can't live like this anymore."

"This is not your fault. We can fix this."

"No, Liz. It is my fault, and the longer that I wait, the more of myself I'm losing. I've been lying to the team and I'm-"

"Ress, stop. Stop." She waited until he met her gaze. "You remember what you told me when I wanted to turn myself in for the harbour master?"

He winced. "Yeah."

"You told me to remember all the good we do, and you were right. Our team puts the bad ones away. We make sure that this works is just a little safer. We're working to take down a dirty fed with ties to the Cabal and the Nash Syndicate, Ressler."

"I'm not bailing on this, Liz. I know what it means, but I can't live with myself knowing that I'vebecome the dirty cop."

"Hey." She reached out and he looked at her. "You are nota dirty cop. You made a tough call and it went bad. It happens. You can't set that right from prison." The doors to the warehouse opened and drew both of their attention as Matias Solomon strode in with a woman that Liz had to assume was Nez Rowan. She had just missed her over the last couple of days, but now she had a chance to meet her.

"Everyone has their limit on what they can give to this," Ressler murmured. "C'mon. I'm not going to leave you a man down for this."

Liz nodded. There would be time to convince him. There had to be.

"You must be Liz."

The woman in questioned turned, catching the wink Solomon shot her way as he sauntered by and it took everything she had in her not to take a swing then and there. It was the woman he had entered with that had spoken. "And you must be Nez. I hear you kept my husband in line the last year or so."

Nez Rowan flashed a grin. "It ranked as one of the more difficult jobs I've ever had to do."

"I'm not that bad," Tom called from across the room.

"No, you're impossible when you're recovering," Liz answered with a smile and Nez snorted a laugh.

"I knew I was gonna like you."

Liz echoed the grin as they moved to join the others.

Detective Norman Singleton was inbound to arrive at the location, and by the time they received that call tensions were already running high. Tom had called Solomon off his playful harassment of anyone he thought that he could get away with and Liz looked ready to shoot him. Her husband didn't blame her. He was about ready to shoot him. Solomon was on the mend as far as he could tell, but being cooped up in recovery had made him more obnoxious than usual.

"A couple things before Detective Singleton gets here, just that we're clear," he said, drawing all eyes to him as he reposition himself at the front of the crowd. "This op is off-books. Halcyon's board doesn't know about it and no one in the FBI can know. Until further notice, the people in this room are the only ones read in."

"That includes the Hargraves and Reddington," Liz specified. "If you're uncomfortable with that, now's the time to bow out."

"What exactly happened with Reddington?" Samar prompted. "You still haven't told us what's changed to make him less trustworthy than usual."

"Elizabeth, if you're asking for trust, it's time to show a little," Cooper said and Tom saw the conflict in his wife's expression. It was dangerous. Reddington had already shown what lengths he was willing to go to to keep them from delving any deeper into his past and his precious secret, and they really couldn't be sure what he would do to the Task Force if they knew what the Keens knew. Nothing, possibly, or one by one they could find themselves meeting the same fate that Sam and Kate Kaplan did to hold that secret in place. Reddington that claimed to care a great deal about both of them, yet he had smothered Sam and shot Kaplan in the head with every intention to kill her. This secret of his, this truth was something he wanted to keep desperately, and a desperate Reddington was a dangerous one.

Liz drew in a deep breath, her gaze turning sharp and determined. "This whole thing is… complicated, but part of the problem is that Reddington has kept asking for us to trust him without honesty to back it up. I'm not going to do that to you." She clenched her jaw a little and Tom saw the struggle there. He reached over, his fingers brushing hers.

"It started about the time I left Halcyon. Late Kaplan reached out to me and said she needed me to pick something up for Liz. It was suitcase with human remains. Long story short, and with a lot of people after these bones, the DNA extracted confirmed that they belong to Raymond Reddington."

Neither of them said anything for a moment, letting the news sink in.

"That's impossible," Ressler chimed in. "I hunted the guy for years. That's him."

"Not according to the DNA report," Liz said softly.

"Who had these bones now?" Cooper asked.

"Ian Garvey," Tom answered immediately. "That's what he was after when he broke into Liz's and my place."

Liz pulled in a steadying breath in next to him. "He killed Nik Korpal for them, nearly killed Tom, and put me into a coma for ten months. He knows the truth, and Reddington is willing to do anything to keep that. He gained control of Richard Whitehall who-."

"Reddington has Whitehall?" Nez demanded, and Tom could almost feel the judgement coming his way that he hadn't filled her in yet, the fact that he hadn't seen her in days not withstanding.

"Yes, and he's using him and the fact that he's the one that has the formula for the meds that Tom needs as leverage against us and the Hargraves to stop the investigation," Liz explained.

A hush followed for just a moment before Ressler took a seat in one of the chairs, his gaze fixed on Tom. "What does that mean for you?"

Tom tried for a reassuring smile, but he knew it fell short. "I'm good for now. I've got some in reserve and Scottie and Howard are looking for an alternative."

"It just means we have to tread carefully. Until we have something to balance the scales, Reddington has the upper hand," Liz warned.

"Keeping him out of the loop is going to help us do what we have to," Tom added. "He wants to get to Garvey, but we think we can get to him first."

A knock at the door drew their attention and Nez unfolded herself from her chair to walk towards it the moment Dumont gave the all-clear. She opened the door to a startled looking Norman Singleton and Tom motioned him in.

"For those of you that don't know," Liz said, "this is Detective Singleton with Metro PD. He was in charge of Tom's case-"

"Still am, technically," the detective said as he joined in. "I've kept your secret like you asked. Not that anybody'd believe me if I told them."

"Appreciate that," Tom said with a lopsided grin. "And in turn we've made sure that your family is safe and out of Garvey's reach."

"Detective Singleton is also part of Ian Garvey's task force," Liz added and there was a quiet murmur amongst the crowd. "And that gives him a unique perspective and access to information."

"So you're the one," Solomon said lightly and Singleton looked uneasy.

Tom didn't blame him with the shark-like grin that Solomon wore.

"You have a lead to get to Garvey?" Cooper prompted.

Tom nodded towards Solomon who stood. His expression tighten into a subtle grimace as his hand went to what must have been the injury Garvey had left him with. "We do. I've been following a couple different trails, and while one ended… in a less than desirable manner -"

"Garvey shot him," Tom offered with a quirked eyebrow.

"You're just sorry it wasn't you."

He grinned. "There's something about shooting you that's cathartic."

"Boys," Nez snapped and Solomon offered a lazy shrug.

He motioned and Dumont pulled a set of photos up on his screens he had set up. "The other lead I was on has merit, though. Meet Lillian May Roth. Thirty-six years old, no known family, but she's something to Garvey. He drives an hour both ways on his lunch to go see her."

"Lilly," Singleton volunteered. "He doesn't really talk about her, but I've heard the name come up on phone calls."

Tom glanced over. "Mistress?"

"Not his wife, but my gut says no on the mistress. Not that Garvey's squeaky clean in that department."

Solomon snorted, his voice bringing them back to the reason he was there. "The plan's simple enough. We snag Roth-"

"By snag you mean abduct her?" Ressler demanded.

"Call it what you will," Solomon drawled.

Cooper straightened where he was seated. "Why not go after Garvey directly? Why involve a civilian?"

Solomon ducked his head at that one and Nez answered for him. "We found out that Garvey has ties to the Cabal because he recognized Solomon and had intel about an op that he ran while working for them."

"When he was trying to kill Liz when the Cabal framed her, perhaps?" Samar deadpanned.

"Before that," Solomon answered lightly.

Tom saw his wife rolled her eyes at the statement. "Garvey is on high alert because he knows Solomon has ties to Halcyon," he explained. "He's difficult to grab right now. It would be easier to lure him out. We're not going to hurt her, Ressler. All we need to do is have her make the call." Tom knew that team wouldn't blink at the tactic, but he also knew what they were asking the Task Force to do. It wasn't the first time they had bent the rules, not by a long shot, but he and Liz needed their help. They needed them to agree to this.

"Alright. We'll bring the girl in for questioning," Cooper agreed. "Where is she?"

"Currently in Maryland," Solomon offered.

"Then we'll bring her into the Post Office. Halcyon will have more leeway when we get Garvey, but until then, while there's an innocent civilian involved, the Task Force is running point on this. Is that clear?"

Cooper's question was directed at the Keens. Tom had hoped to bring her to New York and keep the op under Grey Matter's control to keep Reddington as far away as possible, but that wasn't going to pan out. They were going to have to give to get on this, and more than just the truth.

"Clear," Liz answered, startling her husband from his thoughts.

He turned to Cooper. "We need to tie up a couple of things and we'll meet you at the airport. We can take one of Halcyon's planes." He looked over at Nez and she nodded.

"I'll make sure the jet's fueled and ready."

"We'll call when we're in our way there." He motioned to Singleton. "You ready to go see your girls?"

The detective moved towards them. "This isn't over yet. Garvey-"

"You've done enough," Liz said firmly and the detective looked over to her. "We're not going to risk you getting caught."

Tom saw the hesitation. He was a good guy. An honest guy, and he may not have caught the dangerous side of Ian Garvey yet, but he felt betrayed by the man he was supposed to be able to trust. "We promised you protection. Let us make good on it."

There was a long moment where he wasn't sure Singleton was going to give, but then he saw it. The other man sighed, his shoulder falling just a little. "You'll let me know how it all goes?"

"We will," Liz swore.

He nodded then, and without another word he started for the door. They would get him to the relocation team from Halcyon and then the Keens would be on their way to getting Garvey.

Notes: Agnes may not know what all is going on, but she wants to help. I love that kid so freakin' much. She's too cute.

Next Time: Katarina pushes for a meet, the Keens and their teams find out that Lilly Roth is more than they thought, and a plan is put into motion to bring Garvey in.

#the blacklist #au fanfiction #Tom Keen #Elizabeth Keen #Scottie Hargrave #Nez Rowan #Donald Ressler #Matias Solomon #Samar Navabi #Aram Mojtabai #Harold Cooper #Norman Singleton

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