"There really isn't much to tell."

"You are such a bad liar, Rose." Adrian said.

I turned my head to look at him, and snorted. "I can lie; I just choose not to be so good at it right now."

Adrian shook his head. Christian, being the smart ass he always is, decides to snort. "Like hell Hathaway."

"Oh, and you have something to add?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Lissa told me some things."

"Oh?" I looked at her and she shrugged.

"My personal favorite is when you got drunk off your ass at Darren's house party and-"

I cut him off and looked at Lissa. "You promised me you would never speak of that to anyone!" I yelled. I went to Darren's party once and that was not a good experience, so I know what Christian is talking about.

She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. I glanced at Christian and he smirked.

"Do tell the story." Eddie said, smiling.

I stood up. "Absolutely not!"

"Oooh. This has got to be juicy if you're so against this story being told." Adrian commented.

"It is overflowing with embarrassment." Christian stated, looking at Adrian.

I glanced around, taking in my perimeter. There was hardly anyone in here; just two girls, looking about the age of twelve, eating pizza. From the looks of their food, they had just started eating their pizza. Fabulous, I get a crowed. I looked at Lissa again, except I wasn't really looking at her, I was glaring. "I thought you loved me."

She shrugged, feel bad about breaking her promise. "He is good at getting information out of me."

"Obviously! He wanted to know the most embarrassing thing I did back then!"

"All of the most embarrassing things, and believe me, she told me all of them."

I gulped, but then I decided to bet my cards, and call him bluff. I snorted, "Yeah right."

"I want to hear this story now." Adrian said, grabbing my hand-urging me to sit down.

"You might want a seatbelt." Christian commented.

"Why is that?" Adrian asked, playing along with Christian and his torment to me.

"Because you won't be sitting in it when she is done telling you what happened. You will be on the floor in the fetal position laughing. That was what I did when Lissa told me the tale."

"Oh God." Adrian laughed. "Then this must be funny, but then again, we are talking about Rose Hathaway."

"You haven't the slightest clue. Should you tell or should I? And believe me, I won't leave anything out." Christian said to me.

"You won't even let me leave anything out, will you?" I said, sizing him up.

He shook his head and grabbed Lissa's hand.

"God hates me. He really does." I muttered quietly, but loud enough for everyone at our table to hear. In a louder voice, so that they know I am telling the story I began to tell the tale. "Alright, so it was our first spring break in Portland. Lissa and I were living in college town. Our roommate, Jeremy, invited us to a party that one of his college friends decided to throw. You know where there are college kids, there is alcohol, then there is a party. I had my first sip of beer there, right, and I quickly decided I didn't like it, so being the bitch I am, I sprayed it all over the nearest person possible, which just so happened to be our roommate." Adrian chuckled, Lissa and Eddie smiled. Dimitri on the other hand, had his guardian face on, but in his eyes, I saw disappointment, but think I saw a little bit of amusement in his eyes. However, that was gone as quickly as it came. "Yeah, Jeremy wasn't too happy with me. He acted like he didn't mind, little did I know he was plotting revenge for me. Dear, sweet Jeremy, wanted it to be a very sweet revenge, so he kept offering me different kinds of alcohol beverages, names," I looked at Adrian, "you probably wouldn't even recognize."

"Really little dhampire? You have such little faith in me?"

I laughed, but continued on. "He kept passing drink after drink over telling me what they were called. I remember one, because I never knew such drink existed. It's called 'sex on the beach'. Then he gave me Absinth, tequila shots, vodka shots, watermelon shots… the list goes on and on. Let's just say, I over did it."

"Now, now Rose, you are being too modest on yourself. Tell the truth." Christian, the little asshole, ratted me out.

"What do you want me to say? I couldn't walk a straight line, because, that is implied."

He shook his head, but kept quiet.

"Then wha-" I cut off, immediately realizing what he wanted me to say. "Fuck you! You can't mean…"

With his free hand, he put his elbow on table, put his chin in the palm of his hand, and arched an eyebrow at me. "You are a real asshole, you know that?"

He smiled wickedly at me.

"Where is that pizza?" I asked suddenly. Really, my friends don't need to hear this embarrassing story.

Eddie laughed. "Come on Rose, jump in while you can. We may even forget it after a while."

I could feel my cheeks heat up. "I guarantee you won't forget. It's, like, really embarrassing. Top what you did at the Christmas party sophomore year and multiply that by fifty. You won't let me live it down."

Eddie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to have to admit, Rose is right on her calculations on this one. It's that bad. Well, I think so." Christian said, smirking at me. The little bastard.

"Okay, so I got cornered into a situation that I couldn't see clearly at the time. My little drunk mind couldn't process everything until later, but I realized that I was half naked in Daren's room, dancing…inappropriately to 'oops I did it again' by Britney Spears.

Adrian didn't hold in his laughter, and neither did Eddie.

"You must demonstrate how you were dancing, Rose." My eyes nearly popped out of my head, and clearly Adrian's almost did as well.

"Ah, you couldn't pay me enough to do that dance again."

"Every guardian can know about this…"Eddie said, helping Christian's case.

My jaw almost dropped to the ground. "You are not seriously helping this bastard, are you?"

"Hey, leave my parents out of this!" Christian yelled with amusement.

I growled at Eddie. "You wouldn't dare."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Want to find out?"

"Rose, just do the dance." Lissa piped in. Clearly amused.

I gulped as I got out of my seat. Why my legs were working when I wasn't commanding them to move, is beyond me. I made sure I was out of window shot, so if there were any peeping Toms', they wouldn't see me. I took a deep breath, and shook my shoulders, and just that one movement, everyone cracked up. I hardly moved!

"If you want me to do this, you have to stop laughing." They all looked at me, trying to put on serious faces. So I proceeded:

"Oops! I did it again." This one I bent over, mooning everyone, and looking at them to the side
"I played with your heart." I waved flirtely over to my left, acting like there was a guy there, then again at my right
"Got lost in the game." I put my finger to my lips and moved my head, looking and obseving
"Oh, baby; baby." I punded my hand over my chest twice, for "baby, baby"
"Oops!... You think I'm in love." I wisted my hear and gazed at the ceiling
"That I'm sent from above... " My hand above my head in a 180 degrees parallel from my torso, and stopped brief moments, going with the beat: ab-o-u-v.
"I'm not that innocent." For that one I pulled a MJ move I spinned around, and grabed my croch.

I will admit, that last part did make me smile when time I was done with the dance. However, everyone was cracking up. True to his world, Adrian was just about on the floor in the fetal position. As if on que, two waiters came out with all four of the pizzas. As they set them down, they glanced at me with humor, and went back into the kitchen. I looked at everyone again, still laughing. Lissa was laughing so hard, her hands were on her stomach and tears were coming out of her eyes. Adrian and Eddie were in the same position. Dimitri and Christian were laughing, but not as hard as everyone else.

I sighed. "Guy's, it's really not all that funny."

That only made Lissa laugh even harder. Through the bond, I could tell she was saying ow. Her stomach muscles are not used to being used to the extreme. I rolled my eyes at that. I wouldn't go that far.

While everyone was trying to control their laughter, I dug in. I got two pieces and started to eat them. They were hot. What seemed like a minute later, everyone seemed to settle down and got their own helping.

I had the urge to look up, and everyone was looking at me. "What?" I asked self-conciously.

"Do the Michael Jackson move again! That was funny shit!" Eddie said, pumping his fist in the air. "Man, I wish I was with you guys when you were living in Portland."

Everyone's lips twitched, but Adrian's were the only to speak. "You lead a charmed life, little dhampire." I froze. That's the exact same thing that Victor said to me while still in the Academy. I felt the blood drain from my face, and I looked down.

"What'd I say?"

"Nothing." I said quickly, trying to ease the mood. I looked down at my food, not interested in it, because I suddenly lost my appetite "I wouldn't say charmed. Curse is more like it."

Christian laughed. "That, I will agree with."

I concentrated on trying to get my appetite back, but that was a lost cause, because I suddenly felt nauseated. "Excuse me." I quickly got up and walked to the bathroom. In the bathroom, I did throw up. It was gross, especially with pizza. Uh, I don't think I will be eating pizza again anytime soon. That scared me for a while. I walked to the sink and rinsed my mouth out with water. I should go back to my room. I really need to put my thoughts together and tell Tatiana. Call me crazy, but I think she might actually believe me, but then I would need actual proof. I don't know how I am going to pull this off, but I need to act quickly.

I left the bathroom and returned to the table. "Hey guys. I have to leave. Sorry I'm bailing, so next time is my treat."

"Leaving so soon Guardian Hathaway?" A male voice asked with an Australian accent. I glanced over at the table to the far left of us. And there sat a muscular human male, with black hair and green eyes. He looked right at me, giving me a good view of his face. On the edge of his face, he had a tattoo. I quickly recognized him as an Alchemist. Sydney has the same tattoo, and in the same place. He got up and came over to me. "Then you will need this mate."

He handed me a black bag. "Tell Abe we said hi." Then he winked at me.

"Don't tell me you're doing him a favor."

He laughed. "No, more like running an error for him."

I flinched. Ouch. That was what I was? An error? I quickly disregarded that. He's not interested in playing the role of father. Besides, it's too late for me to have a father in my life. "Did he send you here to check up on me?"

He smiled wickedly at me. "No, though Abe did warn me you would say something like that."

"Do tell me what else he warned you about. All bad I hope, otherwise I would have to set dear old Abe straight."

He the Alchemist turned serious. "He warned me that if he doesn't talk to Rose soon, that I would lose my job."

"That old pest! He's nothing I can't handle." I said, trying to lighten the mood.

He laughed. "I think calling him a pest is being too nice."

"I call him Zmey."

"You better talk to him soon. He's cranky. Be on at 1:30"

I looked at the clock and noticed I only had fifteen minutes. I swore under my breath. "Don't tell me Abe has hit puberty. He's finally on his period."

Adrian busted out laughing. "Rose," he managed to say between laughs. "I wouldn't say that to his face."

I smiled, I would actually. I looked at the Alchemist. "Thank you." He nodded and walked out of the pizzeria. I walked up to Adrian and kissed his forehead, since he was too busy laughing. "I will see you tonight."

I was just opening in the door when someone stood up and asked with venom in the tone, "You are talking to that man!" I didn't need to turn around and notice it was Dimitri talking, but I did anyway. The way he said 'that man' made the phrase sound dirty. All I did was raise an eyebrow, turned around and walked out of the building.

The walk to my room was short, but as I unlocked my door, someone spun me around to look at them. Their arms were on either side of me, blocking my out. I stared at dark brown eyes, and long brown hair. His body was muscular and tall, very tall. I wasn't afraid, because I knew this guy. I know Dimitri.

"Why are you in contact with Abe Mazur?" He said curt and demanding.

I gave him my Rose Hathaway attitude, mainly because he deserved it. He's being an asshole. "Like it's any of your business."

"If he is a part of Lissa's life, then it is my business."

"Well, thank God he's not a part of Lissa's life." I said. "Now move, because I need to talk to someone who is important."

He took a deep breath and moved.

"Why are you in contact with Abe Mazur?" He asked again.

"Why do you even care?"

"I don't, I just want to know."

"Wow, I'm glad you cleared that up, because I was about to be mistaken that you actually cared." I turned to walk in, but he pinned me to the wall again before I could take one more step.

"Answer the question, Rose."

"You answer mine first; why do you want to know?"

"Because the last time you mentioned him, you were afraid of him."

I laughed and he gave me a reprimand look."That is not what I said. I said you two were a lot alike."

"Oh? Care to elaborate?"

"I just meant that both of you were protective. However you are protective by threatening, and Abe is the knee braking kind of threatening." I pushed him away and walked into my room, swinging the door shut behind me. I didn't look to see if it closed, because I didn't hear it latch. However, I wasn't feeling nauseated, so I wasn't concerned. I went over to my desk and dumped the contents out of the bag on the desk. I remembered how to set it up, so it took no time at all to hook it up. I was about to type in the password when someone startled me.

"Rose, listen-sorry." Dimitri said as I jumped.

I turned to look at Dimitri. "What?"

He turned silent, but I looked at him. And I saw what he was going through. He felt guilt. Tremendous guilt. The kind of overloading guilt that will very soon swallow you whole, and that's not good; in fact it's scaring me. He needs to interact again with people, I realized. He needs to learn to forgive himself and find peace. Worst of all, someone needs to tell him that, and I would rather it be me. Rose Hathaway is not known for breaking things down gently, but for him I would. With that resolve, I took a breath and started to talk. "Dimitri," he was still looking at me. "You need to realize that what happened was out of your control. It wasn't you." I know he knew I was referring to him being strigoi, because his whole body was on edge again.

"Yes, it was."

"Don't interrupt me please. It wasn't you. In a sense yes, because it was your body doing the action, not your soul, or your consciousness. You didn't have any say in it. I know you are feeling guilty about everything that has happened, and you need to know that it wasn't you! You had no control. It's like being under a spell, for a lack of a better view. A spell so powerful you can't break out of no matter how hard you try. But you need to realize a few things. One, you need friends. You need to talk and interact with other people before you get more and more depressed. It's not healthy. And quite frankly, Dimitri, it's scaring the hell out of me. I want to help you, but you keep pushing me aside.

" Two, you need to forgive yourself and find peace. You need to except the fact that you had no control over it."

"No one is going to believe me if I say that, even though it is the truth."

I smiled. "They will soon. Spirit is still new to everyone. Once they realize what this all means, there will be forgiveness and joy. Three, there is another way to come out of this. We can fight it, Dimitri! We found a way to save others, to turn them back to their former self. Wouldn't you want a second chance, your life back?"

"Yes."

I looked at him and sighed. "Good. I hope you find peace, Dimitri and forgive yourself. I know you will always feel guilty, and I wish you wouldn't, but realize that it was out of your control. We got you back, and that is all that counts."

I turned around and went back to work, but before I could sit down, Dimitri's arms wrapped around my torso, I quickly responded and returned the hug. "Why?" He asked, and that one question, one word, held so much emotion. I recognized pain, love, hurt, anguish, but what really caught my attention was a note that I never hear before on him, and it was 'thank you.'

"Why what?"

"Why did you save me?"

I pulled back and regarded him with the utter seriousness that he always regarded me with. I looked into his beautiful brown eyes to make him understand that I am telling the truth. "Because I love you; I protect the people I love."

He looked at me. He didn't say anything and his face told me that what I said didn't have any effect on him, and that tore my heart apart. I felt like I was standing there vulnerable to him, and he didn't want me. I stepped back and turned around before I started to cry under his gaze. "You should leave. Abe is waiting for me." I was hyper aware of him, and the fact that he hadn't moved at all. I wanted to look at him, and have him in my arms once more. I wanted it so much that my heart ached, but I knew that was crossing the line with him.

"Would you like some help with your mission? I could be of some assistance."

I smiled, and my mind turned a little bit dirty as I thought of the assistance he could do, but I quickly pushed that out of my mind. No, that would never happen. "No thanks. I can handle it," I saw his sad face in the screen of the laptop, so I quickly added, "but if I need help, I won't hesitate to ask." He looked satisfied with that, so I typed in the password and saw Abe on the screen, with a very stern look.

"You are ten minutes later, little girl."

"You never told me to be on time, old man." I retorted.

"I thought if it was dealing with the illegitimate sibling of your friend, you would have been on time."

"Sorry, I got distracted."

"With Adrian?"

"No, and don't threaten him again! He's my boyfriend."

"I have a right to threaten any guy my da-"

"Abe, there is someone in my room, let me tell them to leave so we can bicker in private."

"Someone is in your room? What part of 'private' don't you understand?"

"I understand just fine." Just then, Dimitri came behind me and I saw Abe's eyebrows go up.

"Guardian Belikov, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Rose speaks highly of you."

"Mr. Mazur," Dimitri bowed his head, "I was wondering, with your permission, if I could help Rose with whatever she is doing."

Abe perusal Dimitri, then finally gave a frown. "I would say yes, Guardian Belikov, but that is entirely up to her majesty, Queen Tatiana."

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked confused, he looked at me, and I shrugged.

"Rose hasn't told you, has she?"

"Told me what, Sir?"

"Rose is under private orders of Queen Tatiana. I don't like it one bit, but Rose is going on a top secret mission, and a very dangerous mission at that."

"What else is new Abe?" I said, as I crossed my arms over my chest and raised both eyebrows. The way he said it, made me feel like a secret agent. I kind of liked it.

"Which is why I arranged a Guardian of mine to watch over you."

"Excuse me!"

"I have a right to be concerned Rose."

"I don't care! Go ahead and be concerned, but don't go protective on me."

"Why not."

"I abhor it when people think I am a kid! I am an adult, and I can look out for myself."

"Rose-"

"Abe, no. I acquiesce, it is dangerous, but I am a Hathaway. I am strong and smart. Don't worry about me.

He looked at me for a few long, tense moments. "Eradicate any strigoi that steps in your way. Be careful Kiz."

I nodded. "I will baba. Does Anne know about this?" Anne is the Turkish word for mother, and babe is the Turkish word for father. I did a little research on it, and from the looks of Abe, he seemed impressed, and maybe a slightly touched. I disregarded that thought immediately; Abe is not an emotional man. He is unrepentant and perilous.

"No, she doesn't. Do you wish for me to tell her?"

"No. She is with her charge anyway."

"Ok. Kiz, I rented you a black hummer. Tatiana gave you a five hundred thousand dollar credit card. It is signed under a human name, so you will not be under surveillance. You will pick up the black hummer at the nearest dealer by you."

"Thank God it's a Chevrolet."

Abe's lips turned into a thin line.

"Damn, you're a Ford guy, aren't you?"

"No, I'm a European car man, not an American. Remember the credit card, Rose. Use it for your meals, hotels, gas, shopping, everything. If you need cash, go to a teller and pull money out. The password is your birthday."

"Oouh. Shopping, huh? Hello Mall of America!"

Abe sighed. "Rose, this is serious."

"I know, but you have to have humor in this sort of situation, otherwise life would look pretty gloomy."

"Good bye, Rose. Keep your cell phone handy."

"I don't have a cell phone, why do you think I asked to use your phone back in Russia?"

Abe glared at me. "Fine, I will get you a phone, but try and keep it alive."

"No guarantees, but thanks."

"No problem Rose. Keep safe."

"I will have fun too. Don't worry. Bye." Then I disconnected. There is so much talking to Abe that I could do.

I turned around and saw that Dimitri was looking at me in a strange way. It looked like a mix of hurt and awe.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

"Why are you going alone?"

"I'm not, I don't have a choice. Remember? Abe is sending one of his guardians's to help me."

"Let me come with you. It's dealing with Lissa-"

"For the last time, it's not dealing with Lissa."

"Everything is dealing with Lissa for you."

"Why won't you believe me?"

"Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you."

"You're not going."

"Why not?" I yelled. Why does he not want me to go? I'm a freaking guardian, for goodness sake. I can hold my own.

"Because the road is to dangerous. Tell me from your point of view, how dangerous it is."

I took one step towards him, arms crossed over my chest, and looked him straight in the eyes. "Since when is something I do not dangerous? Everything I do is dangerous. You know why? Because no one wants to do the dirty work, and I just so happen to not mind it. There are things that need to be done, and be done with understanding, manifest intentions."

"If you would explain to me why you are doing this, and who you are looking for, for Lissa, then I would understand." He took a step towards me.

"I will ask one last time, and if I don't get a straight answer, then I am throwing you out. Why do you want to help me? You were so dead set against exiling me from your life, now you want me to be a part of your life. First you're hot, then you're cold…I don't know what you want from me!"

"I don't want anything from you. I just want to help you to get whatever Lissa wants."

"For the last time, this is has nothing to do with Lissa. Get out."

"You're lying."

I looked him straight in the eyes. "I am not lying. Get out." I growled. I could barely recognize my own voice; it sounded so cold.

"Yes, get out." Another angry voice said. Both our head snapped towards the door, where Adrian stood.

Dimitri gave me one hard, stern look- in which I returned- before turning and leaving the room. He passed Adrian, and didn't even acknowledge him.

"Rose, what the hell was that all about? Why was he in your room?"