Setting: After Last Sacrifice

Warnings: None

Point Of View: Third

Disclaimer: Yeah right, I just wish I owned Vampire Academy.

Hey, thanks for reading my one-shot. Not really sure about the ending but eh- I am working on another chapter for it due to popular demand

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions so please please please review and if you have any prompts for drabbles or one-shots for any of the fandoms I write (Harry Potter, Vampire Academy, Percy Jackson, Mortal Instruments etc.) please feel free to PM me or tell me through a review.

There were no survivors.

The words echoed dully around his head over and over, the voice who had delivered them never changing still filled with sympathy and sadness. He could still remember his last day with her. The pout on her beautiful red lips when she found out she was going on a mission without him. The feeling of her gorgeous dark hair between his fingers as she kissed him goodbye. The easy smile on her face as she climbed into the van with fifteen others shooting a wink at him over her shoulder as she slammed the door shut. Never again would he see that smile, the smile that had lit up his entire existence when the whole world had seemed totally and completely dark.

Lissa was sitting across from him, pale and quiet, wrapped up in Christian's embrace. She had been inconsolable since they had heard the news, cancelling all meetings and barring everyone from the room except the present company. Adrian was sitting alone in an armchair getting steadily drunker on a bottle of vodka. Sydney sat across from him, tears staining her cheeks as she watched him worriedly. Janine sat with Abe her hands clasped tightly on her lap, a blank expression on her face as she stared into the distance while Abe seemed to still be in shock. Eddie and Mia sitting very closely comforting each other. The silence settled oppressively on Dimitri's shoulders, weighing down on him, pulling at his regrets. Why hadn't he insisted on going with the group? Why hadn't he argued with the decision to send some of the less experienced Guardians? But then again it was meant to be an easy mission. Infiltrate and take down the few Strigoi they suspected were in the building. But then the news had come through, a message barely discernible through the static. "They're all dead! There were no survivors. The Mission has failed." The group had been comprised of a group of fifteen Dhampirs including Rose to infiltrate while one stayed outside to report news back to Court.

The news had been relayed and shock had taken over as the sole emotion. The thought that Rose, beautifully deadly Rose, had been killed was incomprehensible. But it was true and nothing they thought or said could change the fact. Now all they could do was wait while the bodies were retrieved and brought back to Court. The weight of Rose's death pressed harder and harder down in the atmosphere until Dimitri could take it no more. He jumped to his feet and swept from the room shutting the door firmly behind him. He all but ran down the hallway and out the doorway to the courtyard beyond. Rain pelted down on him, thunder rumbled in the sky, lightning crackled in bright flashes. He had been so consumed by his grief that hadn't even noticed the thunder storm brewing on the horizon. He tilted his face to the heavens revelling in the harshness of the rain, the coldness shocking him to his reality, the reality he so desperately wanted to escape from. A firm hand on his elbow pulled him from the beautiful clarity of the rain and before he knew it he was on a sheltered balcony staring down at the ground he had so recently occupied.

"It never gets easier, you know?" The person said. "Losing her, I mean. I've lost her countless times and every time I think it'll get easier but it doesn't." Adrian downed another mouthful of vodka before offering the bottle to Dimitri. He happily accepted the alcohol, drinking a few mouthfuls. It was nothing like the vodka he had drunk in Russia but it still brought a welcome burn to his throat. Dimitri didn't know how long they stood there in silence, it could have been minutes or hours but it seemed like a small infinity to his addled brain. They continued to stand staring at the deserted courtyard sharing the bottle between them and when it was finished they stood in silence until a shout from inside the room behind them sent them running. Janine, Abe, Christian, Lissa, Eddie and Mia along with Hans were all huddled around the phone connecting them to the mission team. Static came through clearly with coherent words heard inconsistently.

"Terrible storm… … … went… … building… found… … … … bodies… … …three survivors… … have… … … medical team ready… … … on our way." The frantic voice gave way to complete static and Hans switched off the phone glancing at Lissa.

"Your Majesty, your orders," Hans said expectantly.

Lissa blinked several times before she straightened her shoulders and a determined look came over her face.

"Inform all checkpoints of their arrival and make sure they are cleared as quickly as possible and have a medical team on standby."

"Yes, your Majesty," Hans replied, allowing a quick bow of respect to the Queen before he hurried off to relay the instructions.

The group sped from the room and out of the Queen's palace to wait by the entrance of Court. Guardians stood nearby connected by a radio all standing at the ready, desperate to help their injured comrades. A medical team soon joined the group, determination glinting in eyes that were fixed on the distance. Royal subjects gathered around Lissa all trying to offer a comfort that would never come. Multiple times over the next hour they tried to persuade her to return to the warmth. But the suggestions were met with such vehement rebuttals that they were abandoned quickly. And so the vigil continued, breaths leaving bodies in visible huffs, nervous fingers fiddled and impatient feet tapped against the sidewalk. It occurred to all of Rose's friends at varying times that she might not even be one of the survivors. But they quickly dismissed the notion. After all she had achieved the impossible before, why not now?

Just when tensions had peaked to such a height that they seemed seconds away from snapping, the members of the group were offered a reprieve through the form of radio static. Heads snapped around to stare at the guardian as he walked a few steps away and jerked the radio from his belt. He listened intently for a few moments before speaking a confirmation and returned to the group.

"Their on their way," he said sharply.

The medical team tensed, ready to spring into action the moment the SUV pulled up. And then it did. The tyres screeched in protest against the ground that was slowly drying after the rain. It jerked to a stop and the medical team pounced, ripping open the door, clambering inside, shouting orders and requests at each other. Lissa went to follow them but was immediately pulled back by Christian.

"I need to see-" She cried desperately, straining against his hold.

"Let them do their job."

Abe put a hand on Dimitri's shoulder, who also seemed to be ready to jump into the van.

First they lowered Guardian Mills. The entire group watching sucked in a harsh breath. The man was so pale that he looked like he could be a strigoi. His chest looked as though it had been ripped open and the medical were pressing bandage after bandage to his wound only to throw them away again when they became too soaked with his blood. They wheeled him towards the hospital sprinting as fast at they could while still slowing the bleeding.

Guardian Casey was lead off next, a vacant look in his eyes attributed to the nasty gash on his forehead. Doctors were asking him question after question, hoping for some kind of response.

Finally, the third stretcher was lowered to the floor with less urgency than the first.

A breath choked in Dimitri's throat. Rose's hair that had slipped from her bun caused a stark comparison from the midnight strands to the bleached sheet. Her skin usually tanned from the sun was bloodless as he had never seen before. Beside him, Lissa let out a strangled noise as she took in her best friend's damaged state. The rest of the group just let out sighs of relief that she was alive.

The only comfort Dimitri could acknowledge was that her eyes were open, though not exactly alert. The dark orbs studied the sky for some time as she was wheeled slowly towards the building. Lazily they flickered to the side and rested on his, their gazes locking. Rose's eyes widened in recognition and a weak hand came up immediately to struggle with the oxygen mask that had been fixed over the face. A doctor reached up absently to pull her hand away, more preoccupied with the wound on her stomach. Their was a deep slash that ran from under her right breast down diagonally to her left hip. The mere sight of it made Dimitri's stomach drop uncomfortably. He strode along beside them watching carefully as the bandages were slowly stained crimson. Under their breaths, the medical team were cursing and conferring on the wound, wondering if anything major had been hit.

Finally they reached the hospital and wheeled her inside, her friends and parents hurrying after them. A nurse stopped them inside as they pushed her through another set of double doors.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you're able to go," a nurse told them kindly blocking the way. Lissa nodded mournfully and dropped into the nearest chair. Christian followed suit sliding an arm around his girlfriend, eyes trained on the doors. Janine and Abe clasped hands and took their seats. Soon Dimitri was the only person left standing. He had nodded in understanding at the nurse's words taken half a step backwards, closer to the wall and took up his station waiting for news.

It didn't take long for a doctor to make a reappearance. Definitely no longer than a half hour but to the occupants of the waiting room, it could have been hours. Most were wrapped up in their own thoughts and worries, but Mia Rinaldi watched the stoic face of Dimitri Belikov. With the wall so close, anyone in his place would have leant against it. But Dimitri stood with his feet spaced apart and arms folded tautly, so uncannily like a soldier. Even the look on his face could be easily mistaken for that of disinterest. But Mia had seen it so many times before that she recognised it undoubtedly. It was the expression he had worn on the plane ride after finding Rose in Spokane, the one he had bore all night in the hospital after Rose had been shot.

She was jerked from her musings when the door swung open and a smiling doctor stepped in.

"Rosemarie Hathaway?" He inquired reading from a clipboard. The group of friends jumped to attention and crowded around him. "Do you wish to take the news in private?"

"No, no that's fine," Janine assured him. "Is she ok?"

"Your daughter is very lucky. She lost a lot of blood but it was a simple knife wound and didn't perforate any major organs so it was simply stitched up. She will be confined to bed rest for a week and should take it easy for the week after that but overall she's fine."

Janine allowed herself a moment of open relief before her guardian mask was slipped back into place. She nodded briskly. "Can we see her?"

The doctor glanced back through the window in the door before nodding. "Yes, she's awake and just finished the bandaging. Go right in, but only four at the most. We don't want to excite her."

The four were obvious. Janine, Abe, Dimitri and Lissa hurried through the door without even having to discuss it.

Rose was sitting up against a mountain of pillows, talking quietly to a nurse by her side. Her lips- still pale from the blood loss- twitched, not quite covering working up to a full smile. The quartet approached her bed, Lissa sitting on one side and Dimitri on the other. Her smile widened briefly as she looked at her boyfriend, before exhaustion took over and smiling proved to be too much effort. Strong calloused fingers slipped around her, mindful of the tube in the her wrist providing the blood she so desperately needed.

"How're you feeling?"

"Like I've just been sliced open," Rose joked in response to her friends questions.

"What happened," Janine asked.

Her joking demeanour dropped at once, her eyes slid closed and her head leant back against the wall. "There was so many of them," she whispered, the anguish clear in her voice. "There was chaos straight away. I tried to stay focused but…"

Her shoulder rose in another shrug.

"I was trying to get to Casey, but then a whole bunch of them came for me."

Dimitri's hold on her hand tightened until it was almost painful, but if Rose noticed she didn't say anything.

"I was doing alright, had taken down maybe six out of nine but then one pulled a knife. I was preoccupied with getting to Casey, it was the last thing I expected…" He eyes opened again and a humourless chuckle escaped her lips. "Who knew Strigoi liked to play with knives?"