I heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed my hand over my face.

Raids never got easier. Never.

I curled my body into a tiny ball and leaned up against the door of the car.

My hand made it's way to the base of my neck, where my molnija marks were. I'd have three more by this time tomorrow.

It didn't matter.

I knew them.

Three of the Strigoi that we'd killed.

I knew them.

I'd gone to school with them, even gone on patrol with Maya.

But now they were dead, and we hadn't even tried to save them.

I sighed again, suddenly very tired.

I caught Dimitri's eye in the rearview mirror. His expression was unreadable.

I didn't really want to talk to him right now. Not when I knew he'd give me one of his dumb, Zen pep talks.

Although, I could have used a hand to hold.

Lissa ran up to me as soon as we got into Court.

"Rose!" she shrieked, arms tightening around me in a hug, "We heard...I didn't know...I'm so glad you're okay!"

I sunk into her embraced, realizing just how drained I actually was.

"I'm okay," I promised.

Shaken, but okay.

Lissa had tears in her eyes when she pulled away, "They said we lost five Guardians...I didn't want to think..."

I cut her off, "I'm fine. Dimitri is fine. We killed ten Strigoi though."

I smiled without joy, "A victory."

Lissa deflated in front of me, "Who?"

I shook my head; I didn't want to talk about the friends I had lost.

Lissa nodded and squeezed my hand, "I'll find out from someone else. Get some sleep."

I nodded, "I'll talk to you in the morning."

She gave me one last hug and let me drag my tired body to my room.

Halfway there, Dimitri's hand clamped down on my shoulder, "Roza..."

I sighed, "Hi."

He turned my body so I was facing him, "Oh, Rose."

I twitched my nose. When he looked at me like that, coupled with my already broken down defenses, I was likely to cry any second.

Dimitri gathered me into his arms and I winced.

"What is it?" he asked, concern lining his face.

"It's nothing," I said, "Don't worry about it."

Dimitri scoffed, "Like I'm going to fall for that."

"Worth a shot," I grinned weakly, lifting my shirt to display three long and deep scratches on my side.

"Rose!" Dimitri admonished me, "You should have said something earlier."

"I just have to clean them and it'll be fine," I protested as he dragged me into my room.

"Let me clean them for you."

It should not have been sexy.

I shouldn't have been aroused by Dimitri pulling my shirt over my head to clean my Strigoi-inflicted wounds.

But, goddamn, I was.

His hands were ghosting over my side, gentler than he could ever appear.

I chewed on my lip as he dabbed peroxide over the open cuts.

"Hurts?" he murmured.

"Nah," I sighed, curling my toes.

"I'm almost done," he said, wiping a dry towel over my side.

I didn't answer, instead I rubbed my foot up his leg.

"Rose..." He warned, "You're not in shape for that."

I laughed, feeling more awake, "I'll tell you what I'm in shape for, Comrade."

I lifted a hand up and rested it against the back of his neck, playing with the ends of his hair.

Dimitri made a humming noise in the back of his throat, and his hand slid higher, cupping my breast.

I smirked, once I got started, Dimitri was like putty in my hand.

My free hand tugged at the hem of Dimitri's undershirt. He shifted his body and let me tug the fabric over his head.

"You really should rest," he muttered into my shoulder, nipping his way up to my earlobe.

"I'll rest when I'm dead," I sighed, hiking my leg up onto his hip.

I could feel his erection pressing into me, hot and thick.

One of Dimitri's hands held him above me and the other went down to undo my pants.

I slid my hand down his bare chest and pushed it into the waistband of his pants, holding him in my grip.

He groaned as I put pressure on him and retaliated by yanking my panties away and sliding a finger into me.

My hips arched up, my chest pressing into his.

"We're so not even here," I breathed, nodding to his pants.

"I'll fix that," he pulled his finger out of me and yanked his pants to his ankles, kicking the to the floor.

I hummed in appreciation of his body. He was still slightly sweaty from our raid and his muscles ripped attractively under his skin. He was thick and hard for me, and I was practically throbbing in anticipation for him.

I reached out for him, needing him close.

Dimitri reached down and nudged my thighs apart, positioning his body above me.

"Now," I demanded, "Right now."

Dimitri nodded, leaned down to kiss me and thrust into me, hard and fast.

I gasped, my hands coming up and scrambling for purchase on his shoulders.

Dimitri and I settled into a rhythm.

He was constantly kissing at my neck or my face, pressing his face into my hair.

I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling our bodies closer together.

Dimitri's hand moved from my hair to rest in between our joined bodies. He rubbed at me and I moaned.

"So close," I moaned, leaning into his hand, using mine to get him to rub faster.

Dimitri doubled his efforts, and I felt like I was going to completely lose it.

I came with a moan, slumping back against the pillows. Dimitri grunted a minute later, coming inside of me.

He dropped his body, resting half on top of me and half on the bed.

"Mmm, nice," I sighed, pressing my fingertips against his chest.

"You're bleeding," Dimitri said, lifting his hand in the air. I could see my bright red blood covering three of his fingers.

"Ah, shit," I mumbled, already falling into a post-sex haze.

Dimitri laughed, "I'll bandage you up, and then you can sleep."

"Don't need sleep," I mumbled, tension slipping from my body along with consciousness.

Dimitri kissed my forehead, "You need sleep, Rose. Tomorrow will be a long day."

Long day?

Ah, I remembered, tattling ceremony, funerals for our fallen friends.

Not to mention the pain I'd be feeling.

I reached out and caught Dimitri's wrist with my hand, "Just...hold me for now?"

Dimitri sighed and settled himself next to me, "Of course."

I curled my body close to his, hyper aware of the fact that I could have lost him today.

I intertwined my legs with his.

"Don't ever leave me," I mumbled through a yawn, tucking my face into his side.

"Never again," Dimitri rubbed circles on my back.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep was him getting up to grab the gauze.

A/N: The promised story for $100K towards Frostbite. =)

Okay, guys. I'm sure you've all heard about the IndieGoGo campaign to get Frostbite made. Well, I made my money donation, but now I'm doing something else.

I was joking with Maria (myroza on Tumblr) and said that i would write a oneshot for celebrating the campaign. That morphed into her suggesting I write something every time we hit another multiple of 50K towards the goal. So that's what's happening.

So, please contribute to the campaign if you can, and if not, share the link on as many social medias as many times as you possibly can!