AU Note: they can't afford insurance. That's why it doesn't help pay for it.
And, finally, here is your Romitri
"Just look at it."
"No, Christian. Thank you."
"Rose, what if this could lead you somewhere? What if this is your uncle or your grandfather or...he doesn't look like the type of guy your mother would date, he's not your father, but this could lead you to him."
I looked at the picture, "Most definitely not my grandfather, he's too young."
"Fine, uncle then."
Liz gasped from her wheelchair, "You have an Uncle Eddie or an Uncle Christian? Can I meet him?"
"No, darling, I most certainly do not," I said, watching as Eddie pulled her through the grass toward the house.
"Ibrahim Mazur," Lissa read from the file Christian had given to her to hold, "Aged 50, notorious mob boss who deals with...it says extraneous issues."
"He's most likely a hit man," Christian said.
"Cool," Liz shouted.
"Not cool. We protect people, not kill them. Uncle Christian should not be talking that way." I turned towards Christian, "Let it drop, ok...?"
He was there this time. I swear it. Mason looked exactly as he had before death, and he was trying to tell me something, something important, but his voice wouldn't work.
"Rose...?" Christian was, of course, nervous. The last time he had mentioned this man had been right before my panic attack, and now I was staring off into what was probably space.
"Do you see him?" I asked, and everyone turned to look where I was.
"Who?" Lissa asked.
"They can't attack Christian with Liz nearby," Eddie said, looking for a black clothed figure.
"No," Christian said, "Let's go home. No one's there."
And he pulled me toward the house, without looking back.
When we were a little ways away from the rest he said, "You alright?"
"I guess."
"Do you need Dimitri?" he asked. I was caught off guard. I knew Dimitri and I had been careful, only touching each other in front of the kids and Christian, but now Christian was asking me if I needed him for comfort. We were definitely heading into deep waters, and people were noticing.
But I needed him.
"Please," I said, entering the house and gripping the kitchen counter.
"Rose?" Mary asked.
"I'm fine, just go tell everyone I went to lay down. Ask your uncle if he'll take you and the kids out with him."
"Okay," she said.
I called the number that my phone had been stolen to be put in, and he answered right away, "Alto."
"I need no one to attack Christian while he's out. He's distracting the kids while Dimitri and I deal with something."
"I'll come accompany Christian myself. Anything else I can help with?"
"No, just that. Thank you. I...I really appreciate it."
"You forget that Alberta wasn't the only one to watch you grow up. Anything you need, lots of people are here to help."
Tears sprung to my eyes, "Thank you."
"Sure thing, kiddo."
"Rose?" Dimitri asked, and the facade I had made broke.
Before I knew it, we were sitting on the floor of the kitchen, wrapped around each other.
"I'm going crazy," I said through sobs.
"No. No, you're not. Everything's okay."
"Dimitri. I'm seeing my dead ex boyfriend and imagining my friends as monsters."
"That's okay," he said, "We can get through that. You'll be fine."
"Dimitri, I'm scared."
His arms wrapped around me tighter and he murmured Russian into my ear. I only know a little bit, but it was enough to understand the gist of it.
"You shouldn't be saying that." I whispered quietly.
He looked at me, perfectly unguarded, "It needed to be said."
And then we were kissing and holding each other tightly. We tripped towards the bed, clothes disappearing as we went, and Dimitri plopped me onto the bed. I tried to help him with his pants, but he pinned my hands down beside me, "No. You do enough for me already."
My head fell back on the bed and I heard the sound of a belt hit the floor.
We had left deep waters and had started drowning in an ocean, and we couldn't be happier.
I woke up to a smug Lissa looking over me, "So. I see you're better."
In her hands were the clothes Dimitri and I had so carelessly left on the floor, "So, tell me: how was it to finally give in?"
"You knew?" I asked, sitting up with the sheet wrapped around my chest.
"It was pretty obvious, especially when I would come over and Christian would leave blatant hints all over the place. It wasn't that hard to figure out. By the way, Christian unplugged the cameras before we left. We're planning on having you two get dressed and lay down on the couch so they think you all just fell asleep watching TV."
"We...didn't even think of the cameras," I told her, probably looking guilty.
If this got out, it would ruin both of our careers, not to mention give Lissa a bad reputation for having 'indecent guardians'.
"I'm so sorry, Liss."
"Don't worry about it," Lissa said, waving it away.
"No, it isn't. I should have thought of you and not done anything."
She sat down next to me, "Rose...I get it, you want to take care of me, but you have kids now. You're not even my guardian, you're Christian's. You need to think of them before me."
"That has nothing to do with Dimitri and I being together."
"Yes. It does, Rose." She took my hands, speaking earnestly, "Build a home for those kids, build a HAPPY home for them, and you can only do that if you and Dimitri are together and happy too. Be together. Don't worry about me."
"...Okay."
"Good."
"I'm going to need you to take the kids more often."
She laughed, "Okay, I can do that."
"Maybe we should pour Kool-aid on the camera controls," Dimitri said, not opening his eyes.
"'Oh, sorry Experiment Person, the cameras are down'" I said, mimicking how we would tell the experimenters how their high-tech gear became no-tech gear.
Lissa laughed, "Yes. We must do something about those."
"Thank you, Lissa. For helping us."
"If anyone deserves it, it's you two."