Okay so thanks everyone for the reviews –you seriously motivate me, even though I'm tired and have to work in the morning, I'll do this chapter for you!

Let me know what you think if you want me to update tomorrow.

Thanks – Val

Frostbite Chapter Four

I noticed Rose's glare then –definitely not friendly towards her mother. Rose please don't do anything stupid I prayed. I remembered her telling me she didn't exactly have a good relationship with her –but things couldn't be that bad, could they?

Stan launched into an introduction which praised the Guardians for joining us. He went on about this is so unusual since Guardians can't usually stopped by because they're too busy being amazing and blah blah boring stuff that no one cared to hear–I really just wanted to get to the good stuff.

I was pretty into it –I loved hearing stories about Guardians.

Finally, the older Guardian launched into his story –which immediately got me hooked –it was James Bon style which was always intriguing. He described how he had been guarding a family when the youngest son went missing and they were in a Strigoi filled area.

It was pretty wild and that's one aspect of guarding that sort of let me vent my wild side. When I had found out that I had been assigned to the Academy –I was pretty upset since I wouldn't really be facing any adventures –who knew I'd find my journey to be so wild with a girl like Rose.

The next Guardian was a young guy about my age and I could tell all the girls in the room were almost melting over him. I was about to walk over and close Rose's mouth –his story wasn't that fascinating I thought. She looked more like she was checking him out.

Finally, it was Janine's tale –which was really why most of us were here. While Janine was no Art, she was a pretty prestigious Guardian and Rose had a lot to live up to if she planned on following the footsteps of her mother with Lissa.

Immediately, I could see the flirty look on Rose's face shift from the stupid Macho man to a scowl towards her mother. Rose really wore her emotions on her face sometimes.

Janine's story wasn't really a story, but an epic tale and I felt myself getting captivated –I have no idea how Rose couldn't. If anything I would think that she of all people would admire Janine for her reputation. But then it sort of clicked, being an awesome Guardian didn't really leave any space to be a great mom, did it? Even though I was raised in a dhampir commune, I had a great mother. I wonder how I would have felt without one that was so involved.

Everyone's eyes shown with wonder as Janine went on. Well, everyone, except Rose's who was practically giving Guardian Hathaway the evil eye.

When Janine finished, dozens of hands went up for questions –everyone was in awe about what she had said… except of course Rose.

Then, Rose raised her hand.

I smell trouble. I didn't think Rose was about to hand out praise to her mother with the expression on her face.

"So, Guardian Hathaway," she began, "Why didn't you guys just secure the place?"

Uh oh. Rose 1, Janine 0

Janine frowned then at her question, taken a back and then collected herself and asked, "What do you mean?"

You know exactly what she means, I thought.

Rose just shrugged and slouched back in her desk, I think attempting a casual and conversational air which didn't work at all, she continued, "I don't know. It seems to me like you guys messed up. Why didn't you scope out the place and make sure it was clear of Strigoi in the first place? Seems like you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble."

Rose 2, Janine 0

Everyone turned to Rose as if she had just questioned the Pope on something in the Bible.

Janine finally answered, "If we hadn't gone through all that 'trouble,' there'd be seven more Strigoi walking the world, and those other captured Moroi would be dead or turned by now."

Good comback, but I think you're feed coal into the fire, Rose could have an easy time working with that, I know I would.

Still, Rose 2, Janine 1

"Yeah, yeah, I get how you guys saved the day and all that," Rose continued expectantly, "But I'm going back to the principles here. I mean, this is a theory class, right?" she said and then peeking at Stan. Hah, sure Rose, he'll back you up. He was practically kissing the floor Janine walked on. She continued, ""So I just want to figure out what went wrong in the beginning."

Rose strikes again! Rose 3, Janine 1.

"It's not that simple," Janine tried to defend herself, "The venue had an extremely complex layout. We went through it initially and found nothing. It's believed the Strigoi came in after the festivities had started-or that there might have been passages and hidden rooms we hadn't been aware of."

More candy to Rose, I thought, "So what you're saying is that you guys either failed to detect them during your first sweep, or they broke through the 'security' you set up during the party. Seems like someone messed up either way."

Ouch, Rose 3 plus a bonus point, Janine 1. Well I think we have a winner here ladies and gentleman. Rose is probably the only one that could ever get Janine like this.

"We did the best we could with an unusual situation. I can see how someone at your level might not be able to grasp the intricacies of what I'm describing, but once you've actually learned enough to go beyond theory, you'll see how different it is when you're actually out there and lives are in your hands." Hah, finally, Janine reacted with something.

Rose 4, Janine 2, doesn't seem like it's going to be a complete massacre.

"No doubt," Rose agreed. "Who am I to question your methods? I mean, whatever gets you the molnija
marks, right?"

Uh oh –pushed it too far then kiddo. Now you're bluntly insulting.

Stan of course kicked her out, "Miss Hathaway." Stan's deep voice rumbled through the room. "Please take your things and go wait outside for the remainder of class."

Rose stared at him in bewilderment, it was amusing –what did you think was going to happen, and she questioned him, "Are you serious? Since when is there anything wrong with asking questions?"

"Your attitude is what's wrong." He pointed at the door. "Go." Not exactly, I wouldn't say it's get kicked out of class material, but Rose did sort of push Janine's buttons.

Oh, Rose, what am I going to do with you? She reminded me so much of when I was young.

Rose of course took her stuff and walked out of the class like she was a badass –learn to choose your battles. I don't think she really gained anything from that.

I was going to go talk to Rose after class, but it seemed her Mom had got to her before me. Damn, this is just going to get uglier. Oh well, I'd still get her after school.

At practice, Rose ran in with a curled fist and slammed the dummy's chest, very slightly to the left but almost to the center, "There, the heart is there, and the sternum and ribs are in the way. Can I have the stake now?"

Hah –she really thought it'd be that easy. I'm no push-over, no matter how good you look.

"And how do you get through the sternum and the ribs?" I asked her.

She sighed, not wanted to delay any further. I should really cut her a break I thought, so we spent the most of practice going over that and I demonstrated some techniques to use the stake to the heart. Finally, I decided she deserved it and I opened my hand and offered Rose the stake.

"You're giving it to me?" Rose asked incredulously.

She was so cute sometimes; I couldn't help but smile, "I can't believe you're holding back. I figured you'd have taken it and run by now."

"Aren't you always teaching me to hold back?" she asked.

"Not on everything," I explained.

"But on some things," she retorted and I tried to ignore the double meaning edged in her words. Did that mean she still wanted me?

"Of course," I answered quickly, averting my thoughts, "Know which things to run forward with-and know which to leave alone." I hoped she got the message –she didn't need to make this any harder because honestly, I was always fighting for control. It wasn't easy, especially when we spent hours alone in the gym, fighting and getting all hot and sweaty.

Our eyes met briefly then, and I found it ridiculously difficult to not cut across the distance separating us and kiss her.

She sighed though and grabbed the stake asking, "What should I do first?"

I explained the basics and then let her give a try. She did great and at the end of our practice, I nodded in approval. "Good. Very good."

She looked at me then in surprise and then she lighted up like someone really important had just complimented her.

"Really," she questioned.

"You do it like you've been doing it for years," I explained, hoping that beautiful smile wouldn't fade from her face.

As we were walking out though, we passed a dummy with red hair. Rose scowled at seeing the similarity between Janine and the dummy, "Can I stake that one next time?"

"I don't think that'd be healthy," I answered while putting on my coat.

"It'd be better than actually doing it to her," she grumbled. I hid my laugh.

"Violence isn't the answer to your problems," I said trying to sound wise.

"She's the one with the problem. And I thought the whole point of my education was that violence is the
answer."

"Only to those who bring it to you first," I explained. "Your mother isn't assaulting you. You two are just too much alike, that's all."

Rose stopped walking like I'd deeply offended her. "I'm not anything like her! I mean...we kind of have the same eyes. But I'm a lot taller. And my hair's completely different."

"I'm not talking about your appearances, and you know it," I answered.

She looked away hiding her gaze from me. "You think I'm jealous?"

"Are you?" I asked, trying to get her to confront her issues. "If so, what are you jealous of exactly?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm jealous of her reputation. Maybe I'm jealous because she's put more time into her reputation than into me. I don't know," she explained.

"You don't think what she did was great?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. It just sounded like such a ... I don't know...like she was bragging. Like she
did it for the glory." Rose grimaced.

That caught me by surprise. I knew better than that and Rose should too. "You think facing down Strigoi is worth a few marks? I thought you'd learned something from the Badica house."

"That's not what I-" she began.

"Come on," I told her. It was time for her to meet Tasha.

"What?"

Okay, maybe sneaking Rose would be sort of bad, but what the hell? Tasha should be allowed to stay on campus anyway.

"I want to show you something," I explained. Of course, taking her to an abandoned cabin would probably be worse…right?

"What is it?"

"That not all marks are badges of honor."