If she isn't a Dhampir, then does that mean she can still protect Lissa? Dimitri and Rose's friends bust her out of her cell. At first it's just Dimitri and Rose on the run; then they meet and Alchemist, and then three becomes a crowd. Dimitri tries to understand what Rose is going through, and is raging a battle of his own – against insanity. As Lissa toughs out trying to become Queen and prepare herself for the thrown, she, Adrian and Eddie try to keep Dimitri and Rose hidden by veering the Court off their trail. Find out what happens when Rose is being hunted by other Strigoi. Are they there to kill her, or recruit her? And will Mason join the ranks, or is he only looking for Rose to kill her himself? What are they going to do now that Rose and Dimitri are wanted criminals? A life on the run wasn't how Rose thought she'd spend her life, but she'd done it before, and she can do it again.

Sorry about the delayed update. I was pulled away for several different birthday parties jammed into one week. That, and I went on a mini cruise for a birthday celebration for my grandmother. I know I have all kinds of excuses for not updating, but if I didn't have all of those destrations and more, I'd be on this computer writing. Trust me, it's a toss up between the two dedications I have: social life and writers life. Sigh.

Anyway, here's the long awaited chapter:

Rose's POV

Right jag and a left hook – dodged.

Round house kick – dodge.

Low leg swipe – barely dodged it.

Left hook, and a right jab. Keep dodging, I told myself.

Another round house kick and—

"Ah!" I cried as my ass hit the mat. I may be stronger and faster, but everything that hits me I feel like I'm human.

Dimitri and I have been training all day, and the sun was starting to set. This was far from being over, but I could see Dimitri was physically tired and in meet of refreshments other than a bottle of now empty water. All the while I was barely fatigued. Being inhuman has its perks, too.

"Come on, Rose!" Dimitri cried, coming at me with his fist cocked behind him.

Thinking on my feet – or rather on my ass – I used my new-found speed and jumped pack up. I snatched his fist before he could throw is punch and pinned his arm behind his back. He grunted, but didn't miss a beat. He used his other arm and forced his elbow into my stomach. That didn't feel too great, but I knew better than to let up on my grip. One real slip up will give him the opening he needs and he'd have me down for the count.

Regaining my composure, I snagged his other arm and pinned that one too. Even though his hands were by far bigger than mine, my hand strength countered his. With one hand I held his securely to his back and wrapped my other arm around his neck. It wasn't tight enough to chock him, but he wasn't going anywhere.

Dimitri and I agreed that there was no point in holding back on each other. I knew my limitations so I wouldn't hurt him, and he knew better than to hold back on me. So, neither of us planned on giving in very easily. We also agreed to act as if this was a real fight – to act as if I was really going up against my friends, the Guardians at Court and around the world. His job was to continue attacking until I "knocked him out" – I wasn't going to actually do that, but make it look and feel convincing. My job was to talk down my opponent and try not to show off what I can do. That wasn't too hard. What killed me was the fact that it was Dimitri, and I didn't want him in any part of this.

"I'm not your enemy!" I all but yelled in Dimitri's ear. "I've done nothing to harm anyone; all I want is my freedom." For me, this part wasn't just acting I was voicing the thoughts running through my mind for the past couple of weeks.

Dimitri – even if this situation way really happening – knew it was pointless to struggle, but his craned his head to look at me, eyes holding fake anger and frustration. "You are a threat to the Queen; you must be dealt with."

I figured now was a now or never moment to test my limits on speed and control.

I growled low in my throat and pushed him away from me. He snapped around and poised his body in defense formation. After a few seconds of just staring and analyzing each other's movements, I made my move. With a battle cry fueled by pent up energy and anger, I ran at him, making his whole body tense. Expect, I didn't run right at him. Instead, I took a quick side step around him and "flashed" – decided I should give it some kind of name that describes my speed – behind him, making him halt and look a little dazed. He hasn't expecting me to be so fast, but I clearly had him on the ropes with that move. Catching him by surprise, and before he could turn around, I shoved him forward, back onto the workout mat. He stumbled and turned to face me, but I flashed again, this time right up in his face. My face was blank and cold, but I knew I was going to have to play hard ball. If I was in a real battle, I'm pretty sure this is what it would feel like if I was desperate to make a finishing move to end it all. So, why not practice that now?

I quickly gripped the front of his damp, sweaty shirt and pushed again, expect this time I knocked his legs out from underneath him and we both went flying toward the mat. His back hit it with an audible thud as our combined weight met the mat. His breath left him with an audible "oof". Instead of actually knocking each other out, I figured it was better to just announce "K.O." once the other person was pinned. He did point out though that I would eventually have to learn how hard – or, light, I should say – I'd have to hit in order to not accidently kill my opponent.

"K.O." I announced, leaning over him with my arm pressed lightly against his throat. I smirked down at him. "You know, being pinned is definitely not a good look for you."

He was panting from our tussle, but still managed a come-back. "Ah, Roza, but it is when you're involved," he countered with his own smirk, which grew wider when my smile dropped and face flushed. I don't think he had ever…flirted with me before. A first, the thought of us in a romantic relationship was sickening to him, and now he was the one making the moves. Damn.

My face was lighting up like a Christmas tree because I realized how I was laying on him. I was straddling his waist, but my knees slid back so my lower half was pressed against him. Not to mention the fact that the right strap to my tank top had slid down my shoulder while we were wrestling and my face was only centimeters from his. His hands somehow managed to scurry up to my hips, almost like he was holding me there.

Talk about close encounters.

"So...are you hungry?" I asked, being a smart ass by pretending I didn't know how we were laying; trust me, I did.

He laughed one of his rare, full laughs, making his chest rumble. "Yes, Roza, as a matter of fact, I am. Why don't we see if Sydney managed to get some food for us?"

I think I waited a little too long when peeling my body from his as we picked ourselves off the ground; and worse than that, I think he noticed. I stood to my full – yet not so tall – height, while he was still trying to catch his breath on the ground. It was quite ironic, really. Normally, he was the one who would be standing with me on my back recovering from a tiring work out. But today, I was the one offering my hand to help him up from the ground.

His lips twitched up into a small smile and took my hand, only releasing it when he was sure he was balanced and standing almost a full foot – or more, but I'd never taking too close of a comparison between our heights to be sure – taller than me. Wordlessly, we packed up the mats and work our gear and closed up our new training grounds. It was almost weird practicing and training there in that abandoned building, but it was safe and secure place – for now.

We walked back to our hotel; Dimitri was still cooling down from our work out, but I was watching the road ahead, keeping my senses on alert. The sun nor its rays were nowhere in sight, making the cool air even that much more inviting. I sighed happily when a breeze blew my hair back, brushing against my bear arms and my clothes.

"What are you thinking about?" Dimitri asked out of the blue.

I turned to him only to say, "Nothing," in a very non-believable way and looked away again.

He took the bait. "There is something. Your voice gives everything away, Roza."

"Well, Comrade, you will have to beat it out of me." I smirked but never turned to look at him.

"I think you've gotten enough of a beating today."

This time I did turn to him, glaring. He was sporting a bright playful smile, almost making me smile through my glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm saying you've been beaten enough today. There's no need for more tonight; unless you're asking for another задницу ногами tonight." That playful smirk turned into an expression of dead challenge, making my own lips turn up into a similar one.

I had a snarky retort, but it fell from my lips when I realized he mixed his native language into that sentence. "Wait a second: 'another…what'?" I asked, confused now.

This time he laughed. "As I've told you before, my Roza, I will never give away the Russian profanities you seek. You swear enough in one language as it is."

I cocked a smirk. "So, it is a swear word, then?"

He nodded, but didn't give away any hints is to what it was. Oh, well. There are ways of getting it out of him. Then, I remembered what we were talking about just a few minutes ago. "So, do you really want to know what I'm thinking about?"

He nodded. "Of course." All signs of joking dropping from his expressions. That was one thing I loved and hated about him; he could go from the hot Russian God to that tough-guy, kick-ass Guardian in less than a second.

I looked back at the road ahead of us, seeing the hotel come into view. "I was thinking about my life after all of this blows over; whatever kind of life I can make out of a wanted fugitive, anyway." He looked like he wanted to interrupt and reassure me that I had done nothing wrong, but I stopped him with a wave of my hand. "I don't care what they think of me, or what the world thinks I will do. All I want is Lissa's guaranteed safety. I know I can never go back to that chance at being her Guardian myself. The only two I trust at her side are you and Eddie. If I know she's safe than I'll keep myself safe, if only to know her existence is absolute, that she'll make a life for herself with or without me there." I sighed, having said all of that in one hurried breathe. "And there's only one way that will happen."

"I won't leave you alone, Rose," he said immediately, barely letting me finish my sentence. He face was serious, but his eyes gave away concern and love.

"What else would you rather have me do, Dimitri?" I yelled back, the both of us stopping not far from the hotel front doors. "I can't go back here, let alone in that same general direction. If I'm to ever live a life without worry than I need you there with the others, keeping my mind at ease."

"I can do that here with you, too," he countered.

"How do you plan on doing that? Stepping in the path of a fellow Guardian in order to put your life at risk to I'll have to worry about saving you all over again? I don't think so."

He shook his head. "That won't happen, Rose. If we stick to Sydney and Abe's strategies, then we will avoid those problems together. Lissa will take the thrown and she will end the search for you – for us."

"Didn't I just say I wasn't going to put you in the line of fire?" I asked, getting annoyed pretty quickly.

"I need to be here to make sure all of that happens."

I groaned, seriously frustrated. "No, you can't. Don't you see? I can never be happy with you here!"

The words slipped out before I could stop them. They weren't true – I was just speaking before thinking! But, judging my Dimitri's hurt expression, that didn't matter.

My mouth opened and closed several times, but no words would come out; the guilt already starting to ride over me.

"Dimitri… I'm sorry." I was still at a loss of what to say, but he was already starting for the door before I could say much else. "Wait!" I caught his arm, but he ripped it out of my grip.

Before I could process what was happening, he used his own form of "flash" and snapped us around so my back was to the brick building. I'm not sure if he meant to push me so hard, but my head connected with the wall and I had a sudden flash of what happened what Natalie attacked me.

"Listen to me, Rose, because I don't know how many more times I can say this before you finally understand." His voice was rough, and I knew he was hurting as much as me. "I didn't sign up for this because I thought it would score me a sport next to the future Queen as he head Guardian. I didn't do this for Lissa, for Queen Tatiana or anyone else. I risked my life for you!" his grip on my shoulders tightened, but I could barely feel it, just like the impact with the wall. My body was too numbed by his words and feelings to feel anything. "Why don't you see that this is bigger than Lissa and keeping her safe because your safety is involved, too? What if you died, Rose? Where would that leave everyone else?"

I had never put my mother – let alone my new-found father – into the equation of my life. Suddenly putting them in a situation of who I'm leaving behind if I die was throwing my for a major loop.

"Janine and Abe will have no daughter and they will live out the rest of their lives hunting me down because I couldn't keep you safe like I promised. What about Eddie or Mason? They have known you much longer than me and will be the ones to make my life hell when they find I couldn't save you!" With every sentence, his voice grew slightly louder and more frustrated. "What about Lissa, Rose? What would she do to me if she knew that I couldn't protect you and keep you alive like I swore to do?" I could have sworn I heard his voice waver like he was going to cry, but I dismissed it.

"What about me, Rose?" His voice was softer and almost inaudible. He was clearly hurting and wasn't sure how to deal with it. Welcome to my world. "What happens when I watch you throw your life away because I couldn't stop you? You're being irrational because you're worried about Lissa, but you're not taking your own well-being into consideration here. If I'm to ever be at peace…" He reached up and brushed a stay lock of hair from my face, rolling it between his fingers before dropping it back behind my ear. "I need you to be okay."

Sadly, the only thing I could think to say in that situation was the very thing he was trying to get me to leave be: "They come first."

Whatever gentleness was in his eyes vanished with those three words. He released me shoulders and back away from me, his entire being slumping in an almost unnoticeable way. "Then consider yourself royalty and me your Guardian, Rosemary, because there's no escaping the truth." He stepped toward the door again. Halfway through the entrance to the hotel, he stopped, only turning his gaze to me. "If you die, I'm facing death with you. Because whether you like it or not, we're in this together."

And then, he was gone.

I know, sucky ending. But there will be more story to come, don't worry about that.

So, if anyone actually reads the summary I put at the beginning of each chapter, you will see the following: "Dimitri tries to understand what Rose is going through, and is raging a battle of his own – against insanity." This is where that part of the story kicks in. He's not mad at her because she's being stubborn and asking him to leave every chance she gets, but rather because she's denying she needs his help and intentionally risking her life when it could just as easily be saved. It's extremely frustrating to him and he can't yet get his head wrapped around the idea of Rose truly not needing his help to survive against Strigoi and Guardians alike.

In the next couple of chapters you will see the student surpassing the teacher by a long shot. Not in strength of technique, but in understanding and sheer will of survival.

And, yes, they will make up eventually – very possibly in the next chapter, as a matter of fact. So don't panic.

Anyway, I hope you liked it, and that the training scene was ll that I hoped it was cracked up to be.

Thanks for Reading! R&R

-Aly