Redemption in Reddingtown

*"A tide in the affairs of men..."*

For once, luck was on their side. By some miracle, they had successfully located and infiltrated the compound where Reddington's daughter and her boyfriend were being held. And by another miracle, they had managed to locate and free them without raising an alarm or harming either of them. The two were huddled together in a corner, both covered in dirt and bruises. The man had a nasty cut on his head that required stitches, but otherwise seemed alright. The woman was crying softly into his jacket, sobs racking her body periodically. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, with dark circles under her eyes and hair matted down with sweat. They were both filthy and in desperate need of a shower. It hurt him to see the two in such a state- the young man especially seemed like he could use some serious psychological help- but he pushed aside his empathy for now.

"Are you alright?" He crouched down next to them, keeping his gun trained on Reddington's daughter just in case. When she made no move to resist him, he let himself relax slightly. "Do you need medical attention? We can call an ambulance for you."

The young man placed a hand on Reddington's daughter's shoulder. "We're not going back with you." He said firmly, with a defiance that was almost admirable if it didn't make Ressler want to smack him upside the head for being stupidly reckless. "We're leaving."

Ressler sighed inwardly at the young man's stupidity before turning to the woman who had stopped crying and appeared to be listening intently to the conversation between Ressler and the young man. Her eyes were red from crying but she seemed calm enough now that they were safe. She stood up shakily and nodded at Ressler.

"Yes," She agreed quietly as she helped support Reddington's son to his feet, "We're leaving." She looked over Ressler's shoulder at Cooper who gave her a thin smile and a small nod of agreement before turning away towards Reddington who was leaning against the wall watching the exchange silently from behind them all. The woman frowned slightly before turning back to Ressler and said softly, "Thank you for saving us." They began to walk towards Reddington who stared at his daughter silently as she approached him with an expressionless face that made Ressler feel uneasy about what kind of reception was awaiting them from Reddington himself.

Before they could reach him though, something odd happened- an explosion ripped through one of the walls of the room they were in sending chunks of concrete flying everywhere and knocking everyone off their feet except for Reddington who wasn't even fazed by it all because he seemed used to this happening by now- and when Ressler came to his senses again he realized that there were armed men surrounding them all now holding guns pointed directly at their heads with looks of determination on their faces that told Ressler this wasn't going to end well for any of them- not even him or Cooper or Aram or Aram's girlfriend or anyone else there because they would die before they let these people walk out alive again!

One of them shouted above the chaos that had erupted after the explosion erupted around them all, "Drop your guns!" There was no doubt in anyone's mind that these guys meant business- not just from their threatening demeanors but also from how quickly they had taken out their entire team outside without so much of a hint beforehand about what their plans were! It really did seem like luck wasn't on their side today... but... one thought kept nagging at him during this whole ordeal- one person whose presence hadn't been felt yet, even though he knew it should have been...