The big long chapter is here! Thank you so much for the reviews everyone. This story is like my baby, it's the first thing I've written for fun in what seems like forever and although it's not a popular pairing, I'm so, so glad that there's some people enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

So, here's nearly 5k of Christian!

Twenty-Five

Christian

I didn't know how many hours had passed before the door burst open and I was suddenly looking into Lissa's deep green eyes. They were just as red-ringed as mine. Adrian followed closely behind her.

I stood up, and she was suddenly in my arms, hugging me tightly as she cried into my chest. I held her back, resting my chin in her hair and feeling my own tears fall.

"I can't believe she's gone," she choked out, sobbing into my shirt.

I could only hug her back and try to calm myself down. Adrian's eyes were red, too.

Now that I had someone else to watch me, Aunt Tasha and Dimitri stood up. "We need to go to the follow up meeting," Dimitri said. "See what we can do to help. You lot should stay here, until there's more news."

We nodded, and I pulled back, retaking my place in the armchair. Silence descended on the room, and we all stared at the floor, not sure how to deal with what was happening.

Then a question came to me. "Liss, how did you convince them to bring you back here? You know that it's not even been declared safe yet, and when the plane actually left Court it must have been just after the attack."

A blush tinged her cheeks, and she lifted a shoulder. "I can be very persuasive."

She'd compelled them to bring her back. The cogs began to turn in my head, and I sat up straighter, unable to squash the hope. "Lissa." The excitement in my voice wasn't missed by anyone. "You'd be willing to risk some compulsion to get Rose back, wouldn't you?"

She nodded. "Of course." There wasn't even a hesitation.

"I think we need to go and find Guardian Petrov."

Eddie and Adrian were looking between each other. "What's the plan?" Eddie asked, sceptical.

I explained to them the same thing I'd told Dimitri. "So, they can't be far. The sun was rising as they left, and they can't have gotten that far. We decimated their numbers, we're easily stronger than them. We can go rescuing."

We all leant forwards, unable to stop the hope seeping into our expressions. "It's a good plan," Eddie admitted.

"Let me do the compelling, though," Adrian said. "Liss has too much to lose. I'll talk to Guardian Petrov."

I lifted a shoulder. "I don't care who does it, as long as it works. Dimitri is going to know what we've done, though," I admitted. "He already hounded Guardian Petrov about a rescue mission and she didn't budge. He's going to know."

"I don't care," Adrian dismissed easily. "I can deal with the cradle robber. Besides, he wants Rose back too, I don't doubt. Let's go. Let's get this underway before they have chance to get away. We need to go before the sun sets and they're gone forever."

The four of us headed towards the Guardian's meeting and were forced to loiter around the door until it was over. Then we hid out of side as the Guardians filed out, especially so Dimitri couldn't see us and stop our plan before we'd had time to put it into place.

When it was just Guardian Petrov in the room by herself, the four of us filed in. She gave me and Liss the wariest looks of all. "I've already spoken to Dimitri about a rescue mission, and it's just not possible, I'm sorry."

Lissa looked at her, gaze hard, and then she was speaking with such a soft voice that even I wanted to lean towards her. "I think you should rethink that decision," she said, enchanting the older woman before her. "We can lead a rescue mission. We need to find where they're hiding, and rescue the people who were taken before the sun goes down."

Guardian Petrov's gaze had softened, and she was nodding along. Lissa repeated what she'd just said a few more times, and then broke the connection.

Guardian Petrov frowned for a moment. "I'm sorry, kids, but I need you to leave. I need to call the Guardians back. I think we should lead a rescue mission."

We struggled to keep our expressions in check as we left.

"They'll let us come with them, won't they?" Eddie asked as we trekked back to the lounge we'd left a few minutes ago.

"They have to," I replied. "Look at how much damage we did during the battle."

"I heard you and Rose were killing it," he said.

I flinched at her name, and nodded. "Yeah, we did." I had no idea how many we'd managed to take down as a pair, but it had been well above twenty. "Hopefully this will finally be enough to make people realise that offensive magic is what we need to beat the Strigoi."

"They have to listen after the performance the Moroi put on today. You know none of your students were killed or taken. They held their own."

My smile was small. "I'm glad. They're the reason we're all still here."

All but Rose.

I sighed, folded my arms and sunk down into the armchair, returning to staring at the floor.

Liss came to perch on the arm of my chair and looked at me with a small frown. "It's not your fault," she said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "It's just one of those things."

"I should have tried harder to get her to go to Court," I said, unable to look at her. "My mother took her because of me, you should have seen the look on her face." A shiver ran down my spine. "I should have made her go to Court."

"You couldn't have made her, we all tried," Adrian said from the corner, gaze watching me contemplatively.

I didn't respond, just rested my chin on my knees and waited for something to happen. The night wasn't that far away now. We had four more hours of daylight before it would be too late.

I knew Liss was looking for some comfort, wanted me to bring her into my lap and wrap my arms around her, but I couldn't do it. I needed Rose; she was the one who buried her face in my neck and wrapped her arms around me, placing a small kiss on my neck and telling me that everything would be okay.

Hot streaks ran down my face, and I scrubbed at my eyes some more. I couldn't keep crying. I needed to pull myself together for when we went after them. I needed to be on my best game.

Dimitri and Aunt Tasha came bursting through the door sometime later, his eyes ablaze. "You compelled her," he said to the room.

Aunt Tasha was laying a comforting hand on his arm, and I could tell he was in two minds about the whole thing.

"It was my idea," I said.

"And I did the compelling," Adrian lied.

"It's a good plan, and it needed to happen," I told them, not really caring whether their opinions of me went down. "So I don't feel bad about it. When are we leaving?"

"You should stay here," Aunt Tasha said.

I bristled. "Like hell I will."

"You're not in the right state of mind for a fight."

"Do you need me to get Liss to compel you, too?"

She sighed, and I looked away. "Fine. I know I'm not going to be able to keep you away."

"She's my mother, and she took my best friend. I'm not letting her get away with that."

Liss stiffened beside me, but she didn't say anything.

Aunt Tasha only nodded.

"We're leaving in an hour," Dimitri told the room. "Finding where they're being kept was easy enough. We just need to make sure everyone is prepared. You two should get to the hospital wing—" he nodded at Lissa and Adrian, "—and you two need to come with us and listen to the plan." That was towards Eddie and I.

Liss embraced me again, and I hugged her back. "Stay safe," she whispered, cupping my cheek with her hand for just a minute before leaving with Adrian.

The rest of us headed in the other direction towards the gym. "They're not letting any of the kids from my group fight, are they?" I checked. "They shouldn't have gotten out in the first place, even if they turned the battle. I never meant for that to happen."

"They're not," Aunt Tasha assured me. "But the fact some sixteen year-olds were willing to fight has shamed the adult Moroi into helping. Some of them will be coming with us."

"Good," I growled. "All it took was some students risking their lives for them to grow a backbone."

Just before we went into the gym, Dimitri ushered Tasha to go in and then rounded on me. "Look. You need to calm down. I know you care about her, but if you go in there and lose it then it won't do Rose any favours."

I tried to take a deep breath. "I know. I just don't know how to stop myself." Everything hurt. "I can just imagine all of it, what my mum's doing to her. I'm scared I'm going to snap in there."

His lip quirked. "You're so like Rose, it's no wonder she likes you. Look, when you get in there you have to focus. Use your anger, concentrate it, and make your mum pay. Just don't get out of control. It's going to be cramped, and your fire is going to be a liability in some respects. Just take a deep breath, and remember that you need to do what's best to help Rose."

I tried to do as he said now. I felt myself begin to calm down a bit. "Thanks."

He nodded, then grinned. "You're going to need to stay safe, anyway. Rose is going to crucify you when she realises what you've done, and what Liss did, to rescue her."

I found myself laughing. "I think I can live with that, as long as she's okay."

We entered the room together, and I forced myself to pay attention to what was being said. Dimitri had been right, keeping my fire under control was the most important thing. They were holed up in a small cavern just a couple of miles outside the perimeter, and if I let my magic get out of control I'd hurt more than just Strigoi.

Then it was time to leave, and I stood beside Eddie as we filed out of the room. When we passed Guardian Petrov on the way out, she placed a hand on my shoulder, eyeing me. "Can you keep your emotions under control out there?" she asked, seriously.

My face flamed when I remember what she'd seen this morning when she burst into my room. "Yes." And I believed it. I had to, for Rose.

She studied me for another couple of moments, before nodding.

Eddie was giving me a strange look, but I forced myself to ignore him.

The entire walk to the cave I spend focusing on my breathing. The sun beat down on me, and the fatigue of being awake for so many hours, and having used far more magic than I was used to, dragged on me. Everyone was exhausted, but I wouldn't have been able to sleep even if I'd tried. My hands were shaking as the adrenaline began to build once more.

Not everyone could go into the cave, but the four of us made sure that we got down there. I had to blink to adjust to the lighting in there. There were small lamps around the edge, but it took a minute to be able to see everything. Rose must have been nearly blind; her sight wasn't as good as a Moroi's.

There was a commotion as we entered, and I avoided using my magic, slipping in between the battling figures to find Rose.

And then I saw her. She was strung up in the middle of the cave, bite marks littering her neck. She hung, barely conscious, and I felt my rage building. Heat danced over my palms, and I struggled to control my breathing like Dimitri had said. The fighting was everywhere, and I could barely keep Rose in my vision as I stalked towards her. It was rope holding her up, I could burn through it easily.

Then I just needed to get out of there.

Only a figure came to stand beside her, taking her chin in their hand. "Mother," I hissed.

She turned to me and grinned. "Oh, I knew you'd come for your little blood whore," she chimed. "So predictable."

Rose's head jerked, and she was staring at me, panic in her deep brown eyes. "Christian," my name left her mouth in a whimper, and my mother only seemed to look more pleased.

"She was so certain you'd be sensible enough not to come, but I knew better. She's been fun, by the way." She ran a hand over Rose's neck, across the bite marks.

"Don't touch her," I hissed, hands scrunched into fists. "I'm the one you're interested in."

"I don't know, I've become quite fond of her over the past few hours. She's strong. She'd make a good Strigoi. You could keep her forever that way; the two of you at my side."

Fire danced over my palms and she grinned down at them. "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." She pressed herself completely against Rose. "Unless you want to set your little blood whore on fire, too."

I forced myself to focus, trying to put panic onto my face as I watched my mother run her fangs over Rose's neck.

The fighting hadn't reached this far into the cave yet, and there was no one to stake my mother whilst she was distracted. Her fang pierced Rose's neck, and a strangled sound left her mouth.

Anger was threatening to take over, but I took a calming breath, and focused.

My mum's back set on fire, a contained blaze that wouldn't spread to anything. It wouldn't touch Rose, who was pressed against her front.

My mother jerked, moving to turn around and make Rose catch the flames. But I could control it, as she moved I made the fire move, always staying on the opposite part of her body to Rose. And as she began to screech, I made the fire grow, made it hotter.

Soon, she was in too much pain to stay close to Rose, and that was when I let myself go. I incinerated her entire body with flames so hot that the smell of burning flesh overtook the room.

It wasn't until she was a black, charred mess on the floor that I finally let my magic die.

Then I was rushing towards Rose, burning through the ropes holding her up to the ceiling and letting her collapse into my arms. "Rose," I said, holding her against me until she could find her legs. "Rose, are you okay?"

"Just exhausted," she whispered. "She didn't break anything. I'm fine to walk. We need to get out of here, though. I can't fight."

I nodded, an arm wrapped around her waist as I stayed to the edge of the cave trying to avoid the fighting. She was leaning against me so heavily that it was slow going, and I felt my throat constrict with relief. She was alive. She could walk. She was okay.

We made it out of the cave, and the Guardians at the mouth gave us relieved looks. Guardian Petrov was among them, a large gash on her forehead dripping blood down her face.

She nodded to me. "Good job, Christian. Get her back to the hospital wing."

I didn't need to be told twice. "I guess this would be the perfect time to carry you, if I wasn't so exhausted myself," I said.

Rose laughed into my side. "How did you convince them to launch a rescue mission? Alberta would have never gone for that."

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, she didn't exactly go for it until Liss intervened."

Her head snapped up to mine. "You compelled the head of the Guardians?" she hissed.

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I love you."

Instead of slapping me like I'd expected, she just laughed. It wrapped around me, and I found myself laughing, too. "I love you, too," she said, leaning more heavily into my side.

We approached the wards still chuckling to ourselves, overcome with relief and probably a little bit hysterical. Lissa and Adrian were both there waiting, and they both rushed forwards when they saw us coming. Liss pressed her hand against Rose's cheek, and the bite marks on her neck disappeared.

"Thanks, Liss. There wasn't much to heal, though, really. She didn't hurt me. You should stay here, there's going to be more people coming."

"Are you okay, Rose? Really?"

She smiled, and it was wide and genuine. "Really, I'm okay. Just a bit shook up. I'm going to get Christian to take me to the hospital wing, I'm sure Doctor Olendski is going to want to check despite the healing."

"Are we really going to the hospital wing?" I asked when we were out of earshot.

"No. There's no point in getting in her way when she has real patients to look after. I just need to sleep, honestly. I've been awake too many hours, and drugged too much."

"Are you sure you don't need a blood transfusion?"

"Your mother was very clear about the fact she wasn't taking enough blood to hurt me. She wanted me alive to taunt you with."

I grimaced, and tightened my hold on her. "I'm so sorry."

Rose came to a standstill and reached up to lock her arms around my neck. She buried her face in my neck, and I found myself crushing her against me. One hand pressed against her lower back, and the other tangled in her hair.

"I've never been so scared in my entire life," I whispered into her hair.

"It's okay," she replied, words mumbled. "I'm fine. We're both fine. We made it."

I wasn't sure how long we stood like that, drinking in the fact we were both alive and whole. We'd come through the other side. I shut my eyes and ignored the world; ignored everything except Rose's body melted against mine.

Then someone cleared their throat at the side of us. I opened my eyes and was met with Adrian, eyeing us. Rose pulled back and almost stumbled. I held her upper arms to steady her. "I'm not very useful for the healing," he said. "I'm going to just head back to campus. I thought you were going to the hospital wing."

"I don't need to. I'll just get under Dr. Olendski's feet and take up a hospital bed," Rose admitted. "I'm physically fine, all she did was bite me. Just exhausted."

Adrian looked her up and down before nodding. "Sounds like a good idea."

The three of us walked back to my dorm in relative silence. I still had my arm around Rose's waist to hold her upright as we walked, and she stumbled more than once.

Inside, she didn't hesitate to crawl into my bed, collapsing. "So much comfier than the floor," she mumbled for Adrian's benefit, as if she hadn't been sleeping there for the past three weeks.

Rose fell asleep almost instantly. Both Adrian and I watched her with small smiles on our faces. "Liss will want to come and see her as soon as she's done healing," I said. "She'll know to come here, right?"

"I'm sure she'll find you." Adrian slid down the wall and continued to stare at Rose, head in his hands. "Is she really okay?"

I perched myself on the edge of the bed, careful not to nudge Rose, who was curled up at the top. "I think so. She said she was only bitten, and I think I believe her. She just needs to sleep the endorphins off."

He nodded. "What was it like in there?"

"Dark, crowded." The smell of my mother's rotting flesh came back to me, and I had the urge to throw up. "I killed my mum."

Adrian's head snapped up. "Are you okay?"

I lifted a shoulder. "She wasn't my mum, not really. She was going to turn Rose, and I just burnt her alive." I shuddered. "I just wish I hadn't seen her like that. I still have memories of before she turned, when she just my mum, and I wish those didn't have to be ruined forever."

"You saved Rose's life," Adrian said. "Someone would have killed your mum, even if it hadn't been you."

"I'm glad it was me." I glanced to Rose again, whose face was peaceful in sleep. "At least it's over now."

"It makes me feel so useless. All I can do it sit here and mess with people's dreams. Liss can heal, you can fight. All the elements can fight, and I've got this pathetic shit that doesn't help anyone."

"You know we wouldn't even be here to have this discussion if you hadn't been able to talk to Rose through her dreams in Spokane," I said, eyes flicking to Rose when she began tossing and turning.

"I suppose that's true. Still, it was a bit of a unique situation." He shook his head. "I just wanted to be able to help this time."

I didn't really have anything to say to that.

Rose's gasp made both of us turn our heads towards her, but she still wasn't awake. "You can help," I said. "You can dream-walk her, now. She gets nightmares. They're probably going to get worse after today.

Adrian watched her, and nodded. "I can do that."

A small whimper left her throat, and then she was crying in her sleep. "Christian," she cried. I moved towards her, but she jerked awake before I could touch her. She stared up at me through bleary eyes, and her hand caught my forearm. She held it so tightly it hurt. "You're okay."

"I'm fine."

"Shit," she muttered, scrubbing her eyes. "I guess the nightmares are back. How long was I out?"

"Only about fifteen minutes."

"God dammit." She sighed, head resting back against the pillow. "I'm never going get a good sleep in fifteen minute intervals."

"Adrian's going to dream-walk you," I said, gesturing to where he sat in the corner, just in case she slipped up and said something incriminating. "It'll help."

She blinked and followed where I was looking. "Do you mind?" she asked. "It's all just a bit fresh for me to get a good night's sleep right now."

"It's fine," he assured her, standing up. "I'm going to head back to my room. I'll know when you're asleep again."

She nodded, yawning. "You should go to sleep, too," she told me. "You must be just as tired. I bet you haven't slept."

She budged up and patted the space beside her. "I'm fine," I said, though I took the seat, making sure to stay on top of the covers.

"You're not fine."

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug, and she sighed before turning around, pushing her back against my leg as she got comfy again. Adrian gave us a last look before departing.

When the door was shut, I allowed myself to run fingers through her hair. "People will be coming to visit soon, to make sure you're okay. I think I should stay awake and make sure I'm not cuddling you too obviously."

She chuckled. "I can sleep on the floor so that you can get a proper rest if you want, I don't mind."

"I'm definitely not going to make you sleep on the floor. I'll just wait a bit, then join you in bed."

She nodded, eyelids drooping once more. "If you're sure."

"I'm positive."

She was asleep again within minutes, and I rested my head against the headboard, detangling my hand from her hair before allowing my own eyes to slide shut.

The door opening and shutting jerked me from my sleep, and I opened my eyes to find Aunt Tasha, Dimitri, Liss and Eddie all piling into the room. "You guys are okay," I said, small smile on my face. Rose didn't move from where she was pressing against my leg, and I was glad I hadn't done anything stupid in my sleep.

Liss surged forward, perching on the other side of the bed and running her fingers lightly over Rose's hair. "Is she okay?" she asked.

"She's fine. Just wiped out."

Everyone settled around the bed, managing to perch themselves variously without disturbing Rose. Everyone looked just as knackered as I felt.

"How was it?" I asked Aunt Tasha and Dimitri. "Was it worth it? Or did I send loads of people to their death?"

"We lost two and saved twenty-two," Dimitri said.

I sighed my relief. "Good."

"I still don't approve of your methods, but it was the right call."

"Where's Adrian?" Liss asked, still staring at Rose as though she wasn't sure she was real.

"In his room. He's dream-walking Rose."

"Why?"

"She had a nightmare."

Lissa frowned, brushing her hand over Rose's hair once more. "I wish I could heal that."

"They'll fade eventually," I said. They had last time.

I only hoped that was because she really got over them, rather than because she was sleeping with me. Because our deadline had come.

We'd survived the battle with my mother, but that didn't change anything. Rose and I couldn't be together. Lissa mattered too much to both of us, but especially Rose.

I leant back against the headboard, ignoring the pain in my chest.

"Come on," Aunt Tasha stood up. "We should go and get some rest ourselves. We're all wiped out."

Lissa hesitated, still looking at Rose, but Eddie and Dimitri got up and started heading for the door. "I'll just be a minute," Lissa said. They shut the door behind them, and Lissa looked at me. "I wanted to thank you, for saving her. Tasha told me, about your mum, that you killed her. I'm so sorry you had to do that."

I lifted a shoulder, not wanting to jostle Rose. "It had to be done."

Her smile was weak. "Still. You saved her life. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay that."

"There's nothing to repay. I wanted to save her, too. I'm just glad we got there in time."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you called her you best friend."

I chuckled, when I realised her voice was teasing not suspicious. "I guess shared trauma brings people together."

"Did she talk to you, about Spokane? I could never get her to talk to me about it."

I hesitated before answering, and that was enough to let Lissa know anyway. "She did, a bit. I was there. I think that's what made the difference."

"That makes sense." Tears glistened in Lissa's eyes, and she stood up. "I should go. Look after her, won't you?"

"Of course."

Liss pressed a kiss to my cheek, and then left the room.

Finally alone, I went and locked the door. Rose grumbled in her sleep when my body lost contact with hers, but soon I'd changed into some pyjamas and slipped into bed beside her. She clung onto me the second I laid down, and I held her back just as tightly.

I fell to sleep within minutes.