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"No matter how this all turns out, I’m gonna find Tom, or whatever the hell his name is, and I’m gonna take him apart piece by piece until he tells me everything."
"And I’ll help you do just that."
1x21 - Berlin
His jacket is long gone, lost in the floor of some russian mobster’s club. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, the first three buttons of his now bloody shirt are missing, gun hidden in the back of his trousers. He has a nasty cut on his left eyebrow, a swollen cheek and probably a broken lip, but he’s still alive.
When Ressler opens the door of the suite the first thing he sees is Dembe and Red playing chess.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me."
"Oh, Donald," says Red cheerfully without taking his eyes off the game. "What took you so long?"
"You left me with a bunch of Bratva guys, just after you took half of their money, because you said you need to take care of an important matter. What the hell is so important about chess!?"
"Take a breath, agent Ressler." Donald clench his teeth. He’s not an agent, not anymore, Red has to stop calling him that. “We had a lead, but it’s far gone by now. We were waiting for you.”
"You have a lead?"
"I was speaking with Max," says Liz coming from the next room with a tablet in hand. "They saw Berlin a few days ago in… What the hell happened to you?" she asks him as soon as she raises her eyes from the tablet and focus her glance on Ressler.
"It’s nothing."
"Nothing? You look like you punched your face against a wall."
"Ask him," he says, sending Red a hateful look. "I’m gonna change and then you can tell me about Berlin, seeing as we’re not in a hurry anymore."
After six months, Ressler is still not used to the luxury of living under Red’s wing. The bathroom is almost the size of his living room and this is one of the small ones. The bath seems more like a pool considering the size and there is a mini bar. Who the hell needs a bar in a bathroom? He takes a towel, soaks it in warm water and starts cleaning the dry blood from his face.
"Are you okay?" Liz asks with concern from the doorway.
"Yeah, I’m fine."
He lets out a hiss of pain when the towel touches the cut on his eyebrow. Liz takes a few steps until she’s standing right beside him, hip leaning against the cold marble of the bathroom counter.
"I called Aram this morning," she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Is he still trying to start the band?"
"He says it’s not gonna be the same without you."
Ressler chuckles and he sees a little smile on Liz’s lips from her reflexion on the mirror.
"We’re now next to Red in the most wanted list."
“I think they’re giving us too much credit, but it was something bound to happen.” He leaves the towel on the counter and starts looking on one of the cabinet something to put on his wounds. “They’re not gonna go easy on us. They’re gonna come hard and strong against two rogue agents, we are a shame for the FBI.”
"They think you have been working for Red all along," Liz says with caution, her eyes focus on Ressler’s face to see his reaction.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense for them." He takes a tube of antiseptic cream and it’s about to start applying on his wounds when Liz grabs him by his chin and starts doing it herself. “I spent five years chasing him and he always got away.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this.” Her eyes are now avoiding Ressler’s, focusing on the task at hand like she’s afraid she’s gonna see resentment in them. He had a nice position on the FBI before she became his partner, it wouldn’t be weird if he blamed her for everything.
Donald lets out a small groan when she touches the cut on his eyebrow and shakes his head a little.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, it was my decision."
She looks at him with a sweet smile on her face that he returns. The last six months have been rough. Leaving the FBI and everything behind, running around the world chasing Berlin and Tom, doing the kind of work for Red that would put them in jail for sure. Liz is the only good thing that comes out of this mess. If she wasn’t around to put some peace between the two, he’s sure he would have killed Red a long time ago.
There’s a knock on the door and he sees Red in the threshold, watching them with an impatient look on his face.
"As sweet as this moment is, we need to leave Lizzie." Red puts on his hat. "Now."
"What’s going on?" She asks, turning to look at him but without taking a step away from Ressler.
"Tom is leaving his hotel."