Work Text:
"You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?" Elizabeth Keen asked, frowningly, as she held Raymond Reddington pinned against a bookcase. Her gun wasn't out... yet. But if he kept smiling in that infuriatingly smug way, she might reconsider that.
He attempted to hide the smile.
"Well, Lizzie. Let's just say it's more than slightly titillating that this is actually the second time you've had me pinned against a bookcase, if I recall correctly."
"Don't call me Lizzie," she said, jaw tight.
"My apologies, then. Agent Keen," he corrected, still in that self-satisfied tone.
"And stop smiling," she ordered, quickly losing patience. "You are being held here by a Federal Agent, and you are a person of interest to the FBI."
"I'm perfectly happy to be... held here by you, Li- Elizabeth. And, I'm the FBI's fourth most wanted, if you want to be precise." He attempted to move one of his arms, the one that was currently being held with a deal of force by Lizzie's hand, behind his back.
"Don't- what are you doing?" She demanded, at his slight attempt at motion.
"I was merely trying to check the time," he stated calmly, more calmly than she would have liked, if she was honest with herself.
In fact, he'd reacted surprisingly calmly to this entire situation, which she shouldn't really have been surprised by but it still managed to get under her skin.
Which is exactly what he wants, she reminded herself. And which is why you need to be even calmer.
It was hard, though. She had hoped to get something out of him, a reaction of some kind, anything really. Glancing at her own watch, she muttered under her breath, "It's five forty-five."
"Hmm?"
"It's five forty-five," she repeated, and he smiled in thanks.
"I'm going to miss my dinner reservations," he remarked mildly. "I was so looking forward to the chicken alfredo. Ah. Well. Another time."
"No. There is no other time. You're going to jail, for a long time if there's any justice in the world. And I highly doubt they'll be serving chicken alfredo there."
"You never know, Lizzie. Er- Elizabeth. Sorry," he said, corners of his mouth fighting to keep from turning up. "So. How long are you planning to keep me in this rather interesting yet compromising position? I only ask because my left leg has become quite numb. I'm not sure how long the other one will last before giving out entirely, and I didn't want to surprise you by falling down."
She glanced down at his leg, which had been sort of jammed tightly between her leg and the bottom shelves of the bookcase. Shifting slightly, she moved so that her leg was pressing with less force on his.
"Until backup gets here. I texted Cooper ages ago, I don't know what's taking him so long," she said, with another glance at her watch.
Red jiggled his leg slightly, trying to get circulation back. "This might be a good time to tell you that your cell phone signal is blocked in here."
Liz nearly let go of him in her surprise at this information.
"What?"
"You don't think I'd have a safe house that was left unprotected like that, do you Elizabeth? The signal gets immediately blocked as long as you're inside. You could go outside, of course, but then you'd have to leave me here. And that could be... risky."
He shot her a glance, waiting for her reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
Her eyes narrowing, she bit down on her lip and made a sort of irritated low growling sound.
"Fuck."
"I'd be happy to, but I didn't think that's what you had in mind, here," he returned teasingly. "If I misinterpreted the situation however, please do correct me."
She glared at him. "Damn you."
"You wouldn't be the first," he said, "and probably not the last."
"I should have just shot you when I had the chance," she said angrily, her face quite close to his.
She could feel her own heartbeat, and her chest rose and fell quickly with adrenaline mixed with anger. His chest, on the other hand, was annoyingly still; his breath unchanged, although she thought she might have noticed a slight hitch when she moved a bit closer just then. But it was probably just her imagination.
"Would you have shot me?" He asked, voice low, and softer suddenly.
She hesitated. Yes. She would have. But- well, actually, she hadn't.
"I- I should have," she repeated. "No one would have blamed me."
He gave a slight shrug, and tilted his head. "Perhaps." His tone implied that he didn't believe her.
"I would have shot you," she continued, "but it's less of a punishment to you, isn't it, a clean break like that? As opposed to spending the rest of your days in jail." She tightened her grip on his arm.
His face changed, expression turning a bit darker as he considered this. "Yes I suppose you're right," he said, and she wondered why she felt no satisfaction from it.
"I just wish you'd been honest with me," she said, slightly less fiercely now.
"So do I, Lizzie."
She didn't correct him that time, and it wasn't lost on him.
There was a pause, during which Red moved his face so that it was quite close to hers, just a breath apart, really.
Liz took a shaky breath. Why did he have to look at her like that, right now?
"Would-"
"Is-"
They both started and stopped at the same time. Liz waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she breathed out quickly.
"Would you be honest with me now, Red?"
He looked cagey, as though he was worried about what she would ask him at a time like this. But after meeting her gaze for a long moment, he sighed and nodded.
"I know why you came into my life. But, what I don't understand, what I've never understood was: why did you stay? When you could have just gone off somewhere and lived, without constant scrutiny and surveillance from the FBI? Why stay and risk everything? You must have known it would end like this."
He looked at her then, and allowed his eyes to reflect what his heart felt.
She watched his face change, and suddenly it occurred to her that she'd been very, very, stupidly wrong about a lot of things.
"Oh Lizzie."
Oh Lizzie. The words seemed to pierce through what used to be a shield of protection she'd erected between them. A shield whose use had, maybe, come to an end.
They stood, millimeters apart now, regarding each other. And then, he moved toward her.
His lips met the corner of her mouth, softly, causing her eyes to close at the contact. His mouth moved to the other corner, to her jawline, her temple, and the nape of her neck.
She felt her body go taut like a wire, electricity buzzing through her veins and making her heart race. Finally his mouth met hers, and without needing words, he explained to her just why it was that he had stayed.
He didn't know what he'd expected in response; hadn't let himself dare to consider that she'd ever let him get as far as this. He'd frankly assumed she'd have punched him as soon as she realized what he was about to do. But no, he realized, actually stunned for the first time that evening, she was -- she was kissing him back.
The moment his lips met hers, she responded with a force that would have knocked him off his feet, had he not been propped up by the bookcase. Her arms moved from his wrists down the sides of his body, and she pushed him even further up against the bookcase as she leaned in, eagerly deepening the kiss.
A few minutes passed, maybe more, and Liz had to pull away slightly to catch her breath. Red took a few deep breaths, himself, and she watched this with a bit of pride, knowing that he wasn't as impervious and calm as he liked to seem.
"That was--" he began, and she kissed him again, cutting off his thought for another long moment. Her hands trailed up to the sides of his face, which she held onto when she broke away again.
"-- Unexpected?" She finished off, eyebrow raised.
He shook his head, licking his lips. "No, I was going to say: delightful. Scintillating. Mesmerizing."
She felt her cheeks warm. "Oh."
They looked at eachother for a moment, not speaking.
Liz moved back a bit, letting Red have some space between her body and the bookcase at last. She blinked.
"Unexpected as well, I suppose," Red mused, watching her carefully, unsure of what would happen next.
"I suppose," she agreed, eyes still on his mouth. She shook her head slightly, trying to regain the ability to think clearly. "Well fuck."
In response, Red tilted his head again and she glared at him, although much less angrily this time.
"That's not what I meant," she chided. "At least, not right now."
His eyebrows lifted, and she shot him a quick smile, which changed to a frown as she realized what a mess she'd gotten herself into.
"If I go outside, will the message for Cooper go through immediately?"
Red nodded. "The cell signal is only blocked inside the building."
"He'll send FBI backup to this location then," she continued, and he nodded again.
She sighed. "Okay. Well, then I guess the best option would be..."
Red waited, not realizing he was holding his breath until he had to take a quick lungful of air.
"... for me to turn my phone off and us to get the hell out of here," Liz finished, to his complete surprise. She watched him try to come to terms with this turn of events, and grabbed his arm to tug him back into reality.
"Well? Are you coming or what?" She demanded.
He blinked, then smiled. "I'm coming."
A few weeks later, Madrid, Spain
"I could get used to this," Red remarked slyly, as Lizzie pinned him to a bookcase in the large library of their Spanish villa.
She returned his look with a playful one of her own. "Could you really?" Her mouth met his in a passionate kiss, quieting them both for a few moments.
He pulled away slightly. "Most definitely, Elizabeth."
"Don't call me Elizabeth," she whispered, pressing her body against his and kissing him again.