Chapter Text
“What the hell is this about?” Elizabeth questioned, leaning closely to Donald so she could keep her voice down.
Cocking his brow, Donald leaned in closer to Liz, taking the chance to get closer to the woman. “Reddington wanted to talk to us before the new Chief got here...”
Elizabeth nodded, pulling back a little when she noticed how close the man had gotten to her. “Great…” she sighed, sitting back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
Elizabeth Keen was a seasoned detective, but even as good as she was she didn’t need the skill to know that their Captain, Raymond Reddington, had been very salty about getting past over for the promotion of Chief. Her less experienced partner, Donald Ressler, however had found himself on the wrong side of their Captain’s mood over the last couple weeks and was growing tired of the older man’s attitude. The department had opted to hire from outside, hoping the new face and fresh ideas would help push the department further.
Glancing at her watch, Liz figured she had a few more minutes before Raymond would be in, and a cup of coffee sounded great, so she pushed herself from her seat and hurried out of the room.
“Oh, sorry, Red,” Liz held her hand up as she dodged the man, nearly running into him at the doorway.
Red’s face softened, giving Liz an easy smile, “Good morning, Liz.” He gave her a small nod as he side stepped her.
“Good morning. I was going for coffee. Do you need a fresh cup?” asking as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Red held up the two cups in his hands, “I brought you one.” She gave him a thankful smile, making sure her fingers brushed along Red’s hand as she took the cup from him.
Elizabeth’s feelings for the man had been steadily shifting over the past few months. They had always been close, but it wasn’t until she was standing next to his hospital bed, after a close call last year, that she finally admitted to herself that her feelings for the man were more than that of a friend.
Feeling the light flutter in his stomach as her hand brushed his, Red tampered down the rush of feelings that ran through him. A bullet to the chest would cause anyone to rethink their life if they were lucky enough to live through it, and that’s just what Red had been doing over the last few months. His feelings for the woman made it hard for him to not show affection to her.
More than once he’d thought about what it would be like to just walk up to the woman, take her in his arms and lay one on her. And more than that she caught him looking at her from across the room with a soft smile on his face.
Despite his self admitted feelings, Red still couldn’t seem to make the leap, chalking it up to the fact that he was her Captain, and it just wouldn’t look good. He wasn’t about to admit to himself that inwardly he was scared. It had been a few years since his ex-wife had left him. He’d tried hard to save the doomed marriage, but in the end he’d been left in a pile of heartache. And the possibility that his relationship with Elizabeth could have an ending as toxic as the one he and his ex-wife now had, was just something he wasn’t willing to risk.
They stared at each other for a moment before Red gave his head a light nod to the side and Liz followed him back into the meeting room.
Elizabeth sat back down next to Donald as Red walked up to the front of the room, Donald gave the woman a curious raise of his brow when he saw her hand shaking as she took a drink of her coffee.
“Are you alright?” he leaned into her and whispered.
Catching a small drip of coffee off her bottom lip with her tongue, Liz nodded quickly and set her cup down, “Yeah! I’m fine.”
Hearing the small shake in her voice, Donald sat back in his chair, “Right.” He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, slightly annoyed that he could never seem to get the woman to open up to him or talk to him about much other than work-related things.
“Okay, everyone listen up.” Red grabbed a few files and flipped them open, pulling his chair up to the table as he pushed his reading glasses on to his face.
“The new Chief should be here soon and he wants to talk to everyone, so before that happens we have a few things we need to go over.” Red looked up from the paper in his hand, “Keen, did you and Ressler get anywhere with the new leads on the murder case?”
Liz sat up quickly in her chair, “No sir, we have one more that we plan on following up on later today.”
Red nodded his head in acknowledgement and went back to his paper, “Where are you with that string of break-ins, Dembe?” Red looked over at the man, the pair had gone to the academy together and had been friends for a long time.
Dembe glanced over to Elizabeth, then back at Red. “We are working on some leads, I have a meeting with one of our CIs later today.”
Red nodded as he made some notes on the files in front of him. He was quiet a few more moments as he read the last of his notes. Looking up over the top of his glasses Red saw the new Chief had snuck in and was now standing at the back of the room.
He looked back at Dembe, Ressler and Elizabeth, “Make sure you update me by the end of the day on how your meetings went.” Red looked back at the man standing in the back of the room, standing up as he pulled his glasses from his face, he cleared his throat. “Chief Cooper.” Red gave the man a nod and grabbed his files from the table, walking around the table the rest of his team sat at.
The team watched as the tall dark skinned man walked past them and up to the front, sitting up a little straighter in their chairs. Liz stole a look at Red to see him sitting with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, one arm crossed over the other, the look on his face all but read he wasn't interested in hearing what the new boss had to say.
Liz hid the frown on her face the best she could, she knew how much Red had wanted the promotion and it killed her to see how upset he was.
Cooper gave everyone a warm smile and pushed his glasses higher onto his nose, “Good morning, I’m Harold Cooper.”
Out of the corner of her eye Liz could see Red canter his head side to side as he stretched his neck, followed with a heavy rise and fall of his shoulders. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Liz kept it hidden next to her leg as she quickly sent a message to Red asking him if he was okay. She watched him for a moment and inwardly let out a silent huff as Red ignored his phone. Hearing Cooper clear his throat, Liz quickly turned her attention back to the new chief.
“A little background on me. I started out in the army, and after serving my time I decided to join the academy and serve the community here. I’ve worked my way up the ranks over the last 20 years. I’m honored to get to lead this great team that I’ve heard a lot of great things about.”
Hearing the new Chief talk about a military background Liz knew this would be interesting having Cooper and Red both be former military. They could either get along or butt heads easily, especially with one being army and the other navy.
Knowing he was selected over the team's Captain for the Chief position, Cooper wasn't too surprised when he saw the less enthusiastic looks on the faces looking back at him. He pulled his glasses off his face and slipped them gently into his pocket.
“I’m aware that I’m the new person here, you guys…your team has been together for a while and I know you guys have been through alot.” In order to get ready for his new position Cooper had spent the last couple weeks reviewing the team's personal files and some of their more high profile cases they had solved. “I know your trust and respect is something I am going to have to earn as your new boss, but I want you to know I am excited to get to know each one of you and to help lead this team.”
Rolling his eyes, Red chewed at the inside of his cheek. Grabbing his cup of coffee, he quickly filled his mouth with the warm liquid hoping it would keep him from popping his mouth off. Red’s irritation had not gone unnoticed by Cooper, in fact he’d been warned about Red’s displeasement of the whole situation and he knew he was going to have to tread easy with the seasoned Captain until they could work out their issues.
“So…” Cooper clapped his hands together in front of him and smiled at the team, “In an effort to do just that, I have made arrangements for a team building weekend.”
“A what?” Ressler asked, leaning into Liz. Shrugging Liz looked back at the younger man just as confused as he was.
Before Cooper could finish what he was saying Samar rushes into the room looking slightly disheveled, she gives Cooper a sheepish smile and finds a seat at the back of the room.
Smirking, Cooper looks at her with a questioning look, “You must be Samar Navabi?” he asked. Pushing her hair back out of her face, Samar nod’s and smiles back at him, “Yes sir, sorry I’m late…I was working an undercover op and lost track of time.”
Cooper held up a dismissive hand, “No need to apologize…I’m glad you were able to make it.” He turned his attention back to the group, “As I was saying, next weeked I have made reservations at the Alta Crystal Resort…it’s about an hour and a half from here.”
The team kind of looked at each other curious about how this would all go. It was Samar who spoke up, “I must’ve missed something… Why are we going to a resort?”
“Team building weekend,” said Cooper.
“Oh…” said Samar with the same lack of enthusiasm that Cooper was seeing on the rest of the team’s face earlier in his introduction.
Not wanting to make a total ass of himself, “Sounds like fun,” said Red hiding an unamused smirk behind his coffee cup. But maybe a weekend get away could allow him some time away from work to spend with Liz.
Liz glances back at Red surprised that the man was onboard with this idea. But when she thought about it she was hoping for a chance at alone time with the man away from the walls of the precinct. Hearing Ressler scuff lightly next to her she just glared at the rookie not wanting him to cause any issues for them right off the bat since she was stuck with him.
“I know it’s short notice so if any of you have plans that you can not reschedule please let me know by the end of the day, but I would really like everyone to attend.” Cooper gives them all one more smile and nod of his head, “Okay, I know that you all have leads to follow up on and meetings to get to…so, I’ll leave you in Captain Reddington’s hands.”
The team is quiet as Cooper leaves the room, “Is he for- '' Liz quickly turns and places her hand over Ressler’s mouth, stopping the man from saying anything else.
“Not now!” She warned him with a cocked brow and a firm voice. She leaves her hand in place until she gets a nod from the young man, turning back she sees Red looking at them snickering lightly.
Red looks back over his shoulder at his team, “Go on, get out of here and get busy,” he nods his head back at the door. He sits there for a moment as the rest of the team gets up and starts to leave. Startled when he felt a soft hand come down on his shoulder, Red looks up and gives Liz a light smile.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly, rubbing her thumb over the back of his shoulder.
Nodding his head, Red took the last drink of his coffee, hoping to hide what the woman’s touch was doing to him. “I’m fine,” he said.
Elizabeth’s hand fell quickly from his shoulder as Red stood up and side stepped out of her reach, her eyes narrowed at him. “Reddington, you are a horrible liar.” Japping her hands to her hips and pushing one out for effect, Liz glared at the man.
Hearing his last name, Red huffed and looked at her, “What do you want me to say Lizzy?” he shrugged and wavered his head, “You know what that promotion meant to me, and this weekend team building….whatever, he’s calling it.” Red waved an aimless hand in the air. “Is stupid, we are already a team, a solid team and I dont need some…” started to get frustrated again, Red huffed as he stumbled over his words, “Some…some… asshole telling me that I need to bond with him!”
“Red…” Liz started wanting to ease the man’s frustration.
“Hey Liz, we gotta get going,” interrupted Ressler as he ducked his head back in the room.
“I’ll be right there,” she said to the rookie. As Ressler left the doorway she looked back at Red. “Not two weeks ago you were saying you needed a vacation, well…here ya go.” Liz smirked at Red when he gave her a questioning look for throwing his words back in his face, “Never know…might be fun!” softening her gaze, Liz reached out and hooked her finger around Red’s pinking, tugging on his hand a little, “Just keep an open mind about it…please?”
Releasing a deep breath, Red curled his pinky around Liz’s finger, “I’ll try.” seeing the large smile start to form on Liz’s face, Red felt some of his frustrations start to fade, “You better go, before Ressler get’s bored and gets into trouble.”
—-
On the way to their meeting Ressler was complaining about this weekend team bonding thing to Liz. She was honestly kind of half listening to the rookie. Interrupting the man’s rant she said, “You know this will be good for you. Before you get on the new Chief’s last nerves like you have Red’s. Buck up rookie, it’s just a weekend.”
—-
Hearing a light knock on the door, Red looked up over the top of his glasses from his desk, “Dembe, how did the meeting with the CI go?” he waved his hand for his friend to come in and sit down. “Fresh coffee if you want some.” Red pointed over his shoulder as he went back to typing on his computer.
Getting himself a cup of coffee, Dembe sat down on the small couch Red had in his office. “He jerked me around, so he’s currently sitting in holding until he’s done playing games,” he spoke over his cup as he blew the steam off it.
Hitting the last key on his computer with a little more force than needed, Red groaned and pulled his glasses off, tossing them to his desk as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand. Pinching the bridge of his nose hoping it would ward off the impending headache he felt coming on.
Dembe sat quietly and looked at him with worry, “Raymond, are you okay?” Bringing his foot up to his knee, Dembe stretched his arm out over the back of the couch, waiting for his friend to talk.
“You're the second person to ask me that today.” Red huffed, resting his head back against his chair. “Well, you look like crap…so, what’s wrong?” Dembe smirked when Red shifted his head to the side and shot him a look.
Sitting forward, Red grabbed his coffee cup and turned himself around in his chair. Pouring himself a fresh cup he turned to face Dembe. “This whole weekend thing that Cooper has come up with is stupid, I’ve had to reschedule three meetings and I had tickets the Seahawks game that weekend.”
Taking a drink, Dembe smirked and set his cup down. “Raymond, just go with it…let the man do whatever he thinks he needs to and just play nice with him. He may be the Chief now, but you are still in charge of our day to day operations. He’s just trying to find his place with us.”
“Besides, the Seahawks suck this year, so you won't be missing much.” Dembe added, hoping the jab to Red about his favorite football team would break the man from his funk.
—-
Mid week, Liz starts a group text with the team to figure out the arrangements for heading to the resort Friday after shift. Cooper was going to be heading there before the rest of them to make sure everything was set for their weekend.
Liz: What’s the riding arrangements? Who’s driving?
Dembe: I can drive.
Red: I’ll drive too.
Samar: I’ll ride with you Dembe since we aren’t far from each other.
Ressler: Do we really have to do this?
Red: If I have to, you are too rookie! Liz I’ll pick you up on the way.i
Liz: Sounds good. Thanks Red.
Ressler: Might as well pick me up too. I'm just passed Liz and my car is down at the moment.
Red: Fine.
As Liz puts her phone down she thinks about how interesting this weekend could be. They have been a pretty solid team at work, but outside of work they didn’t hang out. Ressler tended to get on Red’s nerves and even her own at times. Samar and Dembe did a few undercovers so they weren’t always around.