A/N

Ok, I know I'm sorry! I got totally distracted with VA stuff as those who are reading Summer Romance will know… Thank you amazing people so very much for all the love! Y'all are amazing!

So as I'm sure you know because I have said it a million times, this chapter has not been edited because my beta is off on an epic road trip so any mistakes grammatical or spelling is completely mine. Oh and for all of you that's craving an update from her like myself, I think we'll be getting one very soon, or at least I hope so… :D Ok, shutting up now, don't forget to hit that review button on your way out… ;)

I do not own VA or it's characters, they all belong to the amazing Ritchelle Mead!

In The Rain.

Chapter 7.

"Liss, you are not going." Rose demanded rather than said as she and Lissa made their way to the conference room AKA the tech lab, thanks to the mountain of tech equipment all managed by their resident genius Jill Mastrano, the illegitimate daughter of Erick Dragomir and half-sister of Lissa and Andre. She was 24, nearly a year younger than Andre and 2 years older than Lissa.

Eric had not meant to make a woman pregnant, but that had been a tough time in his life. He and Rhea, his high school sweetheart had had Andre only a month before both his parents was killed while on vacation in a cabin deep in the woods of West Virginia. They'd had a candle lit dinner and had gone out for an evening walk when they were brutally killed in a case of mistaken identity.

As if that wasn't bad enough, his parents had not been the only people to die in his family in recent times and as could be imagined, when a person had to deal with that much drama only to have your parents murdered in cold blood while raising a new baby, the outcome was not always pretty. Only, Erick hadn't known that he would make a life altering mistake, one that could have caused him his marriage and new baby.

He had gone out and drank his ass full of licker only to have wake up the next day in the arms of a woman who was not his wife, and find out a few weeks later that he had made her pregnant.

As could be imagined, Rhea was pissed but what could she do? She would never abandon a child or her husband. It took a while, but they were able to pick up the pieces of Erick's drunken mistake and got 3 beautiful children out of it. Jill was raised by Erick and Rhea because her mother had gone into a really bad depression during her pregnancy and nearly killed herself and her baby.

It was a miracle that Jill even survived since she was taken from her mother's womb at 6 and a half months. Her father told her of course what had happened all those years ago but she grew up with the Dragomir kids so as far as Lissa and Andre were concerned, she was their sister. And Jill indeed called Rhea and Erick Mom and Dad and told everyone that Lissa and Andre were her brother and sister. No one knew what actually happened to Emily after Jill was borne; she had left the baby at the hospital and never looked back.

As the glass walls of the tech lab came into view, Rose could see her father's tall and imposing figure as well as her mother's much shorter but just as tough figure standing beside him. An odd pair indeed so much so that Rose more often than not believed that she was adopted but no, the resemblance was striking. She'd inherited her father's Turkish dark hair and eyes but her mother's curvy figure though Rose's curves were more defined. Having the DNA of Janine Hathaway the badass guardian who no one dared to mess with and zmey himself made Rose a force to be reckoned with despite the fact that she looked like an exotic desert princess. Rose made sure that whoever she worked with knew that from the get go rich snob or not, she did not care.

"Rose, I have to," Lissa said continuing their earlier conversation. Rose shook her head no and pushed the sliding glass doors to the tech lab open putting an end to their conversation. Along with her parents, nearly the entire population of guardian HQ was gathered around a huge conference table.

Rose had told her father what had happened right after talking to Eddie and while it felt like hours had passed, she knew it had been only minutes. She took Lissa's hand and pulled her over to where her parents stood with Christian and Tasha.

"What are you going to do, Baba? Who are you sending out?" Rose asked her father. She knew that he would send out a team but the question was who?

Since they had no idea what was actually wrong with Andre, Abe would have to send out a few guardians but how many? Rose wished she'd asked Eddie what had happened but it was too late for that now, they were not getting a response from him or Mason.

Andre was like a brother to Rose since her parents and his parents had been friends since high school and now that he as well as 2 of her closest friends may be in danger was not sitting well with her. She remembered how she'd froze when Eddie said that a guardian needed help. Her gut was telling her that this was not just any guardian. It was Lissa who stepped up despite being shaken up herself. Rose was proud of her best friend. Abe gave her a small smile, a smile which was meant to calm her before addressing everyone. Too bad it didn't really work...

"Alright," He said voice authoritative. The low buzz of conversation that could be heard only moments before faded until a sudden hush fell over the room. The people in it awaited Abe's command as if they were a pack of wolves and he was their Alfa. In that moment, Rose knew that if he had told them to jump off a cliff they would have done it, no questions asked.

We all know why we're here, yes?" Abe asked receiving instant nods. "Good, let's get this over with now so that we can go help Andre. When I call your name I want you to stand over there." He said pointing with the pen he held in his hand. No one uttered a single word. 'Oh fuck old man,' Rose thought, 'just get on with it already'. She hated the silence. The silence forced her to give her thoughts full reign and right now, her thoughts were pretty messed up.

"Petrov." One of the few female guardians stood and walked over to the area Abe had specified. "Belikov." To Rose's astonishment, two people stood up. Dimitri and the girl Rose had seen him with at the party.

"Not you, Victoria." Abe said while Rose tried to keep her face neutral. They were related? Seeing them together now that she was in a somewhat clearer frame of mind, she could see slight resemblance. Oh hell it did not matter right now. She would look into it later.

"You 2 are team leaders." Abe continued. He looked at the rest of the people who had become like family and spoke again.

"When I call your name now you will go stand behind your team leader. Understood?" There was a murmured chorus of 'yes, sir' and then Abe continued.

"Stevens and Andrews you're with Petrov." The guardians walked over to their team leader as Abe continued. Rose's stomach rolled and her lunch nearly ended up on the floor. That meant whoever he called next would be with Dimitri.

"Rose and Christian, you're with Belikov." She mentally screamed every swear word she knew over and over in her head before she snapped out of it to listen to what else Abe had to say. When nothing was said, she stood and so did the rest of the room. Worry could be seen etched on the face of every guardian.

"That's it, baba? You're only going to send 6 of us?" She asked walking over to where he sat with her mother. Dimitri lingered nearby with Christian and a panicked Lissa.

""Yes, kizm. You guys are going front and centre but I'll have more guardians come with you. They'll stay further behind in case you need back up." Rose nodded feeling stupid. She should've known that Abe will never just send 6 guardians out against an unknown threat.

"Mr. Mazur," Lissa called instantly snapping Rose's attention back to the topic at hand. "Please let me go." Dam she should've known that Lissa would do this.

"No." Abe said simply. Rose had to fight hard to keep the smile off her face. Her father could be a pain in the ass when he wanted to be, but Lissa was nothing if not persistent, and Rose knew that first hand.

"What! But he's my brother!" She said voice rising.

"And I'm your boss, and I said no."

"Mrs. Mazur?" Lissa said trying another tactic. Abe and Rose shot Janine pleading looks at the same time but they need not worry. Janine shook her head.

"What is wrong with you people? That's my brother out there and you guys are telling me that I have to stay here while my best friend and boyfriend go up against some unknown threat?"

"Yes Liss. That is exactly what they are telling you. We are guardians, it's what we do." Rose said gaze flicking down to Lissa's flat stomach. Lissa opened her mouth ready with some witty comeback but she did not get the chance.

"Liss," Christian snapped as his arms unconsciously wrapped themselves around her waist and rested right on her belly almost as if he already knew about the precious life growing inside her. Lissa did not pay attention to any of that though. She struggled against him and would've succeeded if he hadn't bent his head to whisper in her ear.

"Stop," He said voice soothing. "You're wasting time here arguing. We could've already been on our way. The more time we spend here the longer it would take us to get to Andre." That stopped her struggles but she spoke again.

"I have to help him Christian; I can't just sit here and do nothing!" She said unconsciously grabbing hold of Christian's shirt. "What if he's seriously injured? What if he needs my help?"

"Then you let the guardians help him, Liss." Christian looked up at that voice and straight into eyes that were so similar to Lissa's. Jill stood before them a hand resting on Lissa's shoulder.

"That's their job, Andre will be fine." Jill took Lissa's hand easing up the death grip she had on Christian's shirt and then pulled her sister into a hug setting Christian free.

"You know he's a fighter," Jill said voice soothing. "If this is serious then he'll fight hard to come back to Andrea, Areya and to us but you need to let the guardians do their job. He's in good hands, these guardians are top of the line badasses and Rose and Christian are going along as well. They'll take care of him."

"She's right, babe. I'll be back soon. I won't let anything happen to your brother. Besides, he's family now." Christian cracked a smile and kissed Lissa's head then he turned and walked toward Rose and Dimitri. Then they were gone out the door and straight for the elevator leaving a calmer Lissa behind with Jill and the rest of the gang. .

"How do we know where we're going?" Dimitri asked. "Did you get directions from Eddie?" Rose nodded her head.

"I got the coordinates. Rose flashed her phone in Dimitri's direction. He studied it for a while and then stepped on the gas. The black SUV sped off leaving a spray of dust and debris in it's wake, the other guardians following not far behind.

"What the hell?" Rose growled sometime later. "Dimitri, how can you even see where you're going?" Christian shot him a look as well eyebrow raised in question.

"Because, I'm from Siberia, remember?" He said shooting them duh looks. Rose grinned despite the fact that her heart felt like led in her chest.

"Ahh yes, the arctic wasteland." She said earning a half smile from Dimitri and a chuckle from Christian...

The roads were covered in ice and snow far worse than when she'd driven Mia home. It was nearly impossible to see anything more than 5 feet out of the car's windows which were being fogged as they drove. And yet Dimitri pushed on only reinforcing Rose's opinion that he was a God. Her thoughts drifted to that night when he showed her how much of a God he was before she shook her head and glanced back for Alberta's car.

When they finally arrived to the directions that Eddie had sent her, they were greeted by the flashing lights of a police cruiser, the paramedics and a nearly white SUV which should've been black. For a second, Rose could not figure out what had happened though she knew that whatever it was had to be bad enough for someone to alert the paramedics and the cops.

"Oh shit!" Christian swore as he got out of the car. At first, Rose thought that the freezing weather was the reason for his language but when she looked in the direction both his and Dimitri's gazes seemed to be glued to, she understood.

The black SUV that Andre drove while on duty was completely ruined. The only reason they knew it was a black SUV was because they worked with him, but to anyone else it was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Alberta's crew pulled up beside them less than a second later. They all got out and as one the six of them took off toward where Andre's car was parked.

"Hathaway!" Mason called. "Over here." Changing Corse they headed over to where he stood with Eddie.

"What the fuck happened, man?" Christian asked.

"Did they get Andre out?" Rose asked not giving them time to answer Christian.

"What happened to your radios and earpieces?" Alberta asked. The guys put their hands up to silence Rose and her team before speaking.

"We were out scouring the city looking for scum like Jesse when we saw the SUV. As guardians we're required to check it out but we didn't know it would be one of our own. He's still trapped in the car. He's pinned by the steering wheel. And we don't know what happened to them; they just stopped working a while ago. Maybe all of this snow has something to do with it."

"Oh god…" Rose breathed deeply trying hard to keep her emotions at bay. She had to stay professional she could not let her emotions get in the way of that. "You said he wasn't alone, who else was with him, Mase?" Mason's eyes flicked toward the car before he looked back at Rose.

"Andrea." Mason said softly.

"Did they get her out?" She demanded fire burning in those dark eyes.

"Yes," Eddie said. Rose breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the ambulance that held Andrea but her relief was short lived.

"Oh fuck!" One of the officers yelled grabbing her attention and that of all the other guardians standing nearby.

"You have to get him out now! That car is going to blow!"

A/N

Dun dun dun!

Cliffy! :D So what's going to happen to Andre now? Will they be able to get him out? What about Andrea? How badly is she injured? What about Lissa? Do you all think she'll stay put? Or is she going to find a way to get to her brother? What about the story about Eric's past and Jill's conception? What happened to her mother? Is she dead or is she still out there?

And now for a totally unrelated question, did any of you watch the VA movie? Can I get some feedback on that? No spoilers please, I have yet to watch it as it hasn't been released here yet! Until my next chapter which will hopefully be sometime soon,

Review and let me know what you think lovelies and Dimitri/Adrian will wrap their arms around your waist and whisper in your ear… :D

XXX

Roza