Work Text:
Dembe walked into the safe house in Orange County, New York he and Red were currently occupying after having driven back from the Bronx DMV office where he had met briefly with Glen. He knew Raymond was there as the Mercedes rental he had insisted Red get while he went to New York City was in the driveway. When he didn’t see the older man downstairs, he went to the upstairs bedrooms. “Raymond?” he called when he didn’t see him in his room.
“I’m in the attic!”
Dembe doffed his coat, tossed it on his bed and then climbed the stairs to the attic. There he saw Red sitting on a stool with a box in front of him. “What are you doing?”
“I got bored, so I decided to see what was up here. How was the meeting with Glen?”
Dembe rolled his eyes. “How is any meeting with Glen? Twenty minutes of him saying the most outrageous things; let’s take Reddington out and take over, tell him I’m not doing anything for him anymore, the Feds came by and questioned me. When I didn’t rise to any of the bait, he finally said he would do what you want and call you tonight. He can be exhausting.”
“I know.” Raymond opened the box and looked inside. “Oh! These are things I had shipped here from France years ago! I think one of these envelopes holds pictures…yes, here they are!” he said sounding pleased with himself. He flipped through a few before stopping to stare at one in particular. “I never noticed this before,” he muttered.
Dembe reached over and Red handed him the photo. He recognized their home in Paris. Raymond and Dembe were standing in the living room in front of the fireplace. Dembe was so short that he just fit under Red’s chin which was where he was standing. Raymond was grinning, he was not. “Kate took this picture about eight months after you brought me to France.”
“Yes. I was so proud of you; you were doing so well with your studies. But your face here…you were scared and I missed it. I knew you were nervous around strangers, but when that picture was taken, it was only you, Kate and me in the house. I scared you, didn’t I?”
Dembe gave the photo back and looked into Red’s eyes. “Yes,” he admitted, “you did scare me, Raymond. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop.”
Red’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Oh, you mean the other shoe. You weren’t sure what my true motives were towards you. But, I had already at that point rejected your advances…”
“I did not trust you then, Raymond! I thought maybe I wasn’t healthy enough or smart enough at the time to be in your bed! As time went on, and nothing untoward happened, I began to believe that you cared for me and your intentions were honorable.”
“I do care for you,” Red acknowledged with a voice gone husky with emotion. “I’m so sorry I was so insensitive then. I should have never insisted on taking this picture with you,” he said as he tore it into pieces that fell back into the box.
Dembe leaned down and put his hand on Red’s shoulder. “I have an idea. Come with me.”
Three days later, Elizabeth walked into the safe house. She had called him as she had questions about a case she was working on and thought he might have answers. He had insisted that she come to where he was rather than just talking on the phone. Dembe was on his way out just as she pulled into the driveway and he held the door for her and said that Raymond would be downstairs in a few minutes. When she entered the living room, one of the first things she noticed was a framed picture on the coffee table. She sat on the couch, picked it up to view it better and had to smile.
In it, Dembe and Red were standing in that very room in front of the fireplace. Red was standing in front of Dembe, who in turn, was standing on the raised hearth so that Red just fit under his chin. Dembe had his right arm wrapped around Red’s chest in obvious affection. Both men sported huge smiles.
“Elizabeth, hello!” Red said as he came down the stairs. “Glad you could make it! Let’s go into the kitchen so I can make us some lunch.”
“Sure, but first, tell me about this!” and turned so Red could see what she was holding.
He smiled gently as he took the picture from her and replaced it on the table. “Dembe wanted to take it.”