Fic : The Blacklist : I'll Never Find Another You
Summary : Sequel to The House You Live In [Redacted] is gone. [Redacted] is gone. Liz has begun picking up the pieces of her life. Mr. Kaplan is back and Reddington is finding it hard to accept that she no longer wants anything to do with him.
A/N Sequel to The House You Live In so in a world where the Woodsman was not a good person, Kirk is dead, Agnes was never returned and Samar never retracts her transfer request.
I still need you there beside me
No matter what I do
For I know I'll never find another you
There is always someone
For each of us they say
And you will be my someone
Forever and a day
I could search the whole world over
Until my life is through
But I know I'll never find another you
It's a long, long journey
So stay by my side
But if I should lose your love dear
I don't know what I'll do
For I know I'll never find another you
-The Seekers
I'll Never Find Another You
Chapter One
Dembe showed them to the room where Reddington was having his breakfast.
“Good morning, Elizabeth. Donald. Croissant?”
Holding out his hand, Reddington took the newspaper Dembe had picked up from the stoop when he let them in. “Thank you, Dembe.”
Reddington did what he always did when Donald saw him pick up a newspaper - he put aside the front sections and headed straight for the classifieds.
Irritated at being summoned and then ignored, Ressler commented. “You know most people get their news online these days.”
“Do I strike you as most people, Agent Ressler?” Reddington retorted disinterestedly as he combed through the section inch by inch.
“Thinking of buying a used car or are you looking through the lonely hearts ads?”
“You never know what treasure one might find in the classifieds, Agent Ressler.”
Ready with another jab, Donald opened his mouth. He closed it only because Elizabeth gave him a pleading look to get him to stop needling Reddington. “Alas, not today.” Looking disproportionately disappointed Reddington put the paper aside.
“Our next blacklister, the Angel of Death is a particularly dastardly scoundrel. A medical man by trade, in reality, he is but the stuff of nightmares.
“He gives a placebo to some of his patients. The lucky ones who actually receive the medication he promises, he bills them for full doses, but dilutes the actual medication with - if they are amongst the lucky - saline so he can sell the excess on the black market. Perhaps the least lucky of his patients are the ones who were never actually sick - at least not until he got a hold of them. Patients he deliberately misdiagnosed as having cancer. He irradiated many of them wiping out their immune systems and causing them to become sick.”
“I watched Sam go through chemo and radiation during his first bout with cancer.” Liz shook her head. “What kind of a monster would do that to someone unnecessarily?”
“A very greedy someone who we need to stop.” Reddington told her. “It is of the utmost importance that we retrieve his patient list. Names, addresses. Everyone on it will need to be tracked down.”
“Of course.” Liz readily agreed.
“I don't have his name or a description. I'm afraid all I do have is the sku number from a medical device, a [blood spinner] left behind at one of his backstreet operations. Aram is going to have to work his magic to track down where it was sold and to whom.”
Walking back to the car, almost hesitantly, Elizabeth started to explain. “The newspaper thing - I think he's looking for a message from Mr. Kaplan.”
“You've got to be kidding me.”
“When Reddington and I were on the run together and we got separated from Dembe the two of them had some kind of system in place to communicate through the classified ads.”
Donald rolled his eyes. “Mr. Kaplan seems to have made it clear in fairly uncertain terms that they are done.”
“I know, but … I don't think he's given up hope she'll reconsider.”
Donald protested. “He shot the woman in the face. He doesn't get to come back from that.”
“I know.” Liz agreed.
“Do you?” Donald asked. “Because to me it seems like everyone forgot that awful fast.”
Liz protested. “Believe me. I haven't forgotten it.” Ressler shook his head, but moving on, he didn't try to argue that particular point any further. “Doesn't that violate your bargain with him? You agreed to keep working with him through the FBI if and only if he gave up the hunt for Mr. Kaplan and Agnes.”
“He's not looking for her. He's looking for a signal from her.”
“Semantics.” Donald pointed out.
“Everything is semantics with Reddington. You get used to it.”
More gently, he asked. “What about you? Are you okay with your decision? With giving up the search for Agnes?”
Liz's nod wasn't exactly convincing. “I'm getting there.”
“Do you think Mr. Kaplan kept Agnes herself?”
By how ready she was with an answer, Donald doubted it was her first time considering the question. “No, I don't think so but I trust that Mr. Kaplan has her somewhere safe, possibly somewhere where she can watch over her. We don't even know what kind of condition Mr Kaplan was in after the Woodsman. I read the autopsy reports of the victims found buried around his cabin. He had her for months.”
“What did Reddington have to say about the visit she paid him?”
“Not much. He was a little hazy on the details.”
“Isn't he always?”
“She drugged him.
“Smart lady.”
When Liz opened her car door and got in, Donald took it for what it was - a signal that she wanted the conversation to be over.
Getting in and starting the car, he changed the subject. “Let's go find this doctor.”
tbc