Smooth Criminal

Chapter 3

Michael's POV: After a moment, the door opened, and there was Maggie. She looked almost exactly the same as when I saw her last. Her brown hair was shoulder length and parted at the left, and it was clear she had minor plastic surgery to change her look. Just lip fillers and a nose job, maybe a cheek lift. She was still beautiful.

"May I help you?" She asked, her british accent becoming apparent. I never noticed it before. I snapped back to reality. "Yeah. Uh—Reddington sent me." I said. She looked a little shocked. "Get in." She said before walking off. I hesitantly followed, shutting the door behind me. Before I knew it, she had a gun pointed at me. "Woah woah woah woah, take it easy." I said, hands up at my sides. "I don't know who you are or what you want, so you better start explaining." She said.

"Ok, ok." I said, "I'm Alexander. Reddington really did send me. He just wanted me to check up on you and see if you're ok. Nothing more, nothing less."

Maggie lowered her gun. "That it?" She asked. "Well, I may have left out the part where he wants you to turn yourself into the FBI." I mumbled. "Seriously? Now he's got people coming to tell me that?!" She asked, "Look, you tell him it's not happening. I've been on their most wanted list for decades now, and I'm not losing my freedom, or even my life since they'll probably send me to death row."

"He said you'll probably get immunity—"

"Key word, probably." She cut me off, "No one, not even Red can guarantee that I'll be safe. And why does he even want me to turn myself in anyways? He trying to get me out of the picture to further his empire?!"

"No. He's—oh god this sounds weird—Reddington's an informant now." I said.

Maggie just looked at me puzzled for a moment. She went to speak, but paused, trying to form her sentences. "Are we talking about the same Raymond Reddington here?" She asked, pointing to herself then me. I nodded. "Boy." She started, sitting down, "Never would I have ever thought that Ray would turn himself in. There's gotta be a reason for him doing so. You know why?"

"He didn't tell me." I replied. She continued thinking, trying to wrap her brain around Reddington turning himself in. It got quiet, awkward too. "If you don't mind me asking, why is Reddington so concerned with you?" I said, breaking the silence. Maggie let out a sigh. "I was a Blacklister years ago." She started, "A serial killer to be specific. I would lure men into a relationship, then after a week or two I'd kill them, dispose of the evidence, then change my identity. I'd leave a black rose at the scene each time, so I became known as 'The Black Rose'. Kinda cheesy."

"You're 'The Black Rose'?! You use to be a legend when it came to cleaning up a crime scene." I said. She chuckled. I already knew all this stuff from experience, but I had to make it seem as if I was unaware.

"I was. But I ended all that years ago." She continued, "This one guy I met, he was supposed to be my next victim. I was so damn close to killing him to, but got caught in the act when I had to take care of someone for Red. A hostage situation ensued, there were multiple casualties, and I had to go into hiding because of it. Ironically, the two people I was supposed to kill lived. In fact, I used the one to get the hell out of that place. Strangely enough, he seemed to take pity on me. The fact that he saw past my malicious intentions to the broken person deep down inside amazed me. He was the only one to. I still don't know why, but that encouraged me to stop. That day was the last time I killed someone. Well, let me rephrase that. It was the last time I killed someone as 'The Black Rose'. I've killed people since as a Blacklister, but it was to save myself. So basically, I haven't killed anyone in cold blood. However, 'The Black Rose' is gone."

I clung to every word she spoke. I stopped her from murdering? That entire situation all that time ago stopped her? Interesting.

"So, what do you want me to tell Reddington?" I asked. She was silent.

"Just tell him I'm thinking about it." She finally said. I nodded.

"Fair enough." I got up to leave.

"Hold on." She called. I turned to face her. She stared at me in awe. "You look so familiar. I swear I've seen you before."

"Perhaps you have." I smirked before leaving...