I fretted over this chapter for weeks, revising it over and over again. I didn't want to drag the scene out, so thats why I ended the chapter where I did. I think theres only 5 more chapters I can get out of this story. We're approaching the end and it's actually making me a little sad lol. Anyways I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer- All characters belong to Richelle Mead.

Dimitri POV

We were locked, loaded, and ready to go.

Briefing Hans on everything we had learned, and then waiting on him to get permission on the raid took a long time and in the early hours of the morning, we were finally ready to go.

I was itching and stressed to get to Tasha, because the only thing on my mind was Vika.

I wanted to leave as soon as I finished up my phone call with my mother, but the guys held me back and reasoned with me that I couldn't go in there without an official order from my boss.

As each minute ticked by, I was getting more and more pissed off, to the point that even Ivan and Adrian steered clear of me. But now, we were finally ready to head out.

Before I had the chance to step out, I felt Ivan's large hand on my forearm, halting my movements.

"Can I talk to you really quickly?" I glanced at the door, my need to leave showing clearly on my face. "It'll be quick."

I nodded and ushered him over to the hall where we could get more privacy.

"What's up?"

"I don't want you think I'm going into this with an unclear head. The moment I heard about Vika, Tasha was dead for me." Taking a deep breath, he tugged at his blond hair. "I just don't want you or Adrian to think you can't trust me out there."

"Ivan," I quickly cut him off. "I would never think that. You're like my brother."

He released a sigh of relief and it wasn't until this moment that I realized how heavily this was weighing on his mind. For Adrian and I, there was no hesitation on who's side we were on. Despite my own history and friendship with Tasha, I held absolutely no sympathy for her. The moment I found out the truth about her, I hated her.

Hearing Ivan say that he was completely on my side was just as much of a relief to me as was him hearing I trusted him. We needed to go into this with a clear head and I was glad he had pulled me aside to have this conversation.

"Our main concern is finding Vika and protecting Rose, but I needed to get this off my chest."

"I feel you, I'm glad you did," I told him.

Adrian popped his head into the hallway we were standing in. "Guys, let's go."

I turned back to Ivan and slapped him on the back, hoping that was enough for him to realize how okay I was now that we had gotten this out of the way.

XXXXX

It was almost 6 a.m. when we arrived in front of Tasha's house and we were lucky enough to find another car parked in her driveway.

Adrian typed the license plate into the portable laptop and gave us a smirk.

"The car is registered to Ethan Moore."

"Two birds with one stone," I muttered, re-checking the clip on my gun. I was sure I wouldn't actually have to use it, but you could never be too safe.

"So how are we going to play this," Ivan asked us.

We were in one vehicle, with another 2 backup groups with us. It was needed, since they were both involved in Nathan's escape.

"We'll lead, break her door open and apprehend them both. None of us are assholes when it comes to our weapons, but I still need to say this. We need them both alive to find out where Vika is," I stressed, giving Adrian a pointed look. Out of the three of us, he was the trigger happy one. Adrian rolled his eyes, but nodded, showing me he agreed with me.

I had gone over this with the rest of the officers on the scene, as well. I told them it was crucial to have Tasha and Ethan come out of this alive.

"Nathan said over the phone to Tasha that he wanted the exchange to happen today. We need those two alive to be a step ahead of him."

"We got this Dimka, don't worry," Ivan reassured me. Usually I was confident with what I did, but I was too personally involved in this case. With both Rose and Vika added into the mix, it was hard for me to go into this with a clear head. Still, I tried to remind myself that there was absolutely no room for screw-ups.

We exited the car, the three of us taking the lead. I had done this so many times, but I had never felt this nervous before. There was also a lot more laying on this raid then any other. One wrong move and I could lose two of the most important females in my life.

With our guns raised, we slowly approached the front of the house, while some of the other officers spread themselves out around the rest of the area surrounding Tasha's house.

What we didn't expect was that a few feet away from us, the front door would open and Ethan would walk out, with Tasha close on his tail.

He barely registered us at first, glancing at us briefly and then jerking back in surprise so quickly, that he knocked into Tasha.

"Hand's up where I can see them," I yelled, the three of us circling around the pair.

Out of the two, Tasha looked completely stunned, as if she couldn't believe that we had actually caught her.

I saw her take a step towards her front door, but Ivan's voice stopped her.

"Don't even think about it Tasha," anger and betrayal laced in his voice. She at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Tasha slowly moved out of the front door completely, and walked in front of Ethan.

"Ivan, I can explain," she whispered, her lower lip quivering. I scoffed at her act; her fake ass tears wouldn't work on me again.

"Save it," he muttered. He kept his gun raised and took a step closer to her. "I trusted you," he whispered so no one but us could hear him. "I loved you."

"Ivan please let me explain-"

"No!" he cut her off. "Nothing can justify what you're doing to Rose and what you did to Vika."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she shared a scared look with Ethan.

"Yeah, you think we wouldn't find out?" He asked rhetorically. Ivan's hands holding the gun began shaking, causing Adrian and I to share a worried glance and step closer to Ivan. "You met her when she was a little girl. How the fuck could you do that to her? How could you do that to Dimka's family, when they treated you like you were their own?"

"Ivan, calm down," Adrian told him.

Ivan turned towards Adrian, voicing his anger towards him next. "How can you tell me to calm down? I can't calm down!"

I should have never bought him. I should have never thought that he would be able to keep a clear head, because during the split second Adrian and I both turned towards Ivan, Ethan pulled a gun out from the back of his pants, yanked Tasha into his chest, and aimed the gun at her head.

And just like that, everything went to shit.

He moved backwards, so his back was facing the front door, and allowing all of his weak spots to be covered. Tasha yelped in Ethan's hold. He was bending her arm back in a painful way.

"I'll shoot her, I'll fucking do it," Ethan threatened us. His hand was shaking and he looked terrified, but we had to listen to him, because Tasha was the only connection I had to Nathan and Vika, and I couldn't lose her.

"Alright, alright relax," I tried to say calmly. I slowly put my gun down on the ground and eyed Tasha, trying to silently tell her to not make any sudden moves.

"Everyone drop their weapons!" I gritted my teeth in anger and gestured for all the officers, including Ivan and Adrian to put their guns down.

"We are not going to hurt you, just put the gun down and you can explain everything to us," I tried to reason with him.

Ethan laughed maniacally, all trace of humor void from it. "You can't fool me. I know what's going to happen go me if I put this gun down." He shook his head and muttered to himself. "I'm not going to jail, I won't."

Tasha was sinking lower in Ethan's hold, but not just from the pain in the arm he had a vice grip on.

No, she was lowering herself enough to be able to connect her fist with his groin. The moment her fist connected with Ethan's sensitive flesh, he fell back towards the front door. His grip on Tasha loosened, and she pushed the hand holding the gun away so quickly, that Ethan's finger tightened on the trigger and a shot rang out.

As I went towards Tasha, Adrian lifted his gun from the ground and fired a perfect shot against Ethan's arm, causing the man to drop the gun and fall down in pain.

I grasped Tasha's wrist and turned her around, so her back was against me.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," I said in a mechanical tone. I've arrested a lot of people before, but I never thought Tasha would be one of them.

"You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you," I continued, handcuffing her wrists behind her back.

"Dimka-"

"Take her," I told a passing officer, giving the female off to him. I didn't want to hear anything she had to say.

I saw Tasha being placed in a police vehicle while some other officers approached Ethan. A call was made to have an ambulance come to the scene, since there was no way we could put a shot and bloody man into the police car.

"Are we all good?" I called out and heard an chorus of 'yes' and 'yeahs."

Adrian approached me, putting his gun away.

"Great, more paper work for me," he mumbled. I was going to reply, but a groan behind me caught my attention.

Ivan had his back turned towards Adrian and I, and he was slouching against the car.

"What's up Ivan?" Adrian asked him.

This moment, these few seconds, would be etched into my brain forever.

Ivan turned towards us slowly, and it was only then that I noticed his hand was placed at the base of his neck.

My best friend got shot and I never even realized it.

He swayed slightly and took the hand away, his hand and neck covered in blood.

"Dimka?" he croaked out, blood sputtering from his mouth and wound.

My feet moved without me even realizing it and I caught Ivan just as he fell.

"I got you man, I got you," I told him gently, though I was freaking out inside. I moved behind Ivan and lowered us slowly onto the ground.

I pulled Ivan towards my chest and cradled his head against my legs.

"We need an ambulance quick!" Adrian yelled out and moved close to place his hands around Ivan's neck, trying to keep the blood form flowing out. "Hang in there buddy, we'll be getting out of here soon," Adrian said, trying to give Ivan a smile though he faltered miserably.

"Dimka, listen to me," Ivan choked out.

"Shush man."

Ivan shook his head and groaned, the action clearly causing him pain. "No, no you need to listen to me." He tried to take a deep breath and shudders went through his body.

"I was always so jealous of you," he whispered. "You had Olena, Yeva, the girls, and then Rose. I always thought you were the luckiest man ever, because you had a family that loves you so much."

Ivan abruptly stopped, coughing up blood. Adrian and I shared a panicked look. I could feel my insides clenching in pain, because even if the paramedics showed up right this second, Ivan had already lost too much blood.

I swept the sweaty strands of hair that matted his forehead and pushed them back, holding him against my chest as I would a child. As his coughing seized, he looked extremely pale, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Ivan you keep your eyes open! Do you hear me, keep them open!" I begged him.

"But you love me," he whispered and smiled sadly up at me. I clenched my eyes tight, unable to keep a hold onto my true feelings even for Ivan's sake. "You love me and Adrian loves me and that's all the love I needed in my life."

I lowered my forehead onto his and nodded my head.

"I do, you're my brother. I've always loved you."

I felt Ivan sigh and all at once, the tension and the strain had left his body.

I shot my head up in a panic, tightening my hold on him. Adrian had moved even closer on his knees, now hovering over Ivan just as I was.

"Ivan, Ivan wake up."

Adrian moved one of his hands that had been covering Ivan's wound and bought it up to his face.

"Come on buddy, open your eyes. Come on, Ivan please," Adrian paused and looked up at me, his eyes face looking as terrified as I felt. "Dimitri wake him up," he pleaded.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"No! Wake him up!"

I dropped my head again and brushed my lips against Ivan's forehead.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered against his skin. Adrian had given up on begging me. He was hunched over with his head in his hands and I could see his shoulders shaking.

I bought Ivan closer to my chest and rocked him lightly back and forth, crying into his neck.

I continued to whisper how sorry I was and how much I loved him against the skin of his neck, but he couldn't hear me anymore.

I heard the distinct sound of sirens coming closer and closer to us until the noise was almost deafening. There were people rushing up to us, speaking urgently and trying to take Ivan from my hold.

I shook them off and tightened my arms around him, unable to physically part from my best friend who had just died in my arms.

Rose POV

Sydney called me at 8 in the morning, telling me she was coming to pick me up.

"Why, is everything okay?" I asked her.

"Adrian texted me and told me to take you to the headquarters, but he didn't tell me why."
"Okay yeah I'll be ready in 10 minutes, see you then."

After hanging up with Sydney, I called Dimitri and had the call go immediately to voicemail. From Sydney's phone call and Dimitri not picking up, I was instantly worried.

I tried to push my fear to the back of my head and went outside to where Sydney was waiting for me.

"Look I don't want to sound like a pessimist-"

"I do," Sydney said, cutting me off. She handed me her phone and told me," Look at what Adrian sent me."

I looked at the message he had sent her a half an hour ago and it read, "Please come to the Headquarters with Rose. I need you."

"I tried calling Dimitri and it went straight to voicemail. That's never happened before."

Sydney released a sigh of frustration and stepped harder on the gas pedal. The quicker we got to the headquarters, the quicker we would get our answers.

We arrived no more than 10 minutes later and I had never seen such chaos here before.

For starters, there were significantly a lot less people here then I was used to seeing. And second, every person seemed to have a somber expression on their faces.

"Something doesn't feel right," I muttered to Sydney.

"I'm going to see if Hans is here," she said before rushing over to his office. I made my way over to Dimitri's desk and sat myself down. It was crazy how exhausted I already felt and the day had just started.

"He's not here," Sydney said. She plopped herself down at Adrian's desk. Now all we had left was to wait.
Apparently the two of us were too restless and anxious to be sitting still.

For the next 20 minutes, Sydney and I had been pacing the floors, waiting for our men when they finally showed up.

I made a move to go towards Dimitri, but stopped in my tracks.

I had never, in the all the months I had known him, seen such a broken expression on Dimitri's face. His eyes were bloodshot and lifeless, and he seemed unaware of his surroundings.

I shared a worried glance with Sydney after noticing Adrian didn't look any better.

The boys approached their desks and we walked up to them, until we were only a foot away.

"Dimitri," I asked hesitantly. He looked at me as if just noticing I was there and I was shocked to see him look even worse up close. I closed the distance between us and touched my hand to his cheek. "What's wrong?"

Dimitri's eyes turned glossy and he dropped his head from my hold.

Sydney, who had been fretting over Adrian, spoke up.

"Where's Ivan?"

I looked behind the boys, and noticed that the blond was missing.

Dimitri clenched his eyes shut and bought his hands up to hold his head. I gasped seeing the dried blood covering Dimitri's hands.

My breath hitched in my throat and I could feel tears pooling in my eyes, yet I had to ask.

"Dimitri where's Ivan?"

A moment later, Dimitri shook his head, filling my body with dread.

"Oh Dimitri," I draped my arms tightly around Dimitri, feeling his body trembling in my hold. Dimitri struggled to keep his emotions in, but lost the battle, weeping into my shoulder.

All I could do was hold on tight, shaking as sobs wracked through my own body. I had been worried about the confrontation they were going to have with Tasha, but I couldn't imagine it turning into this.

Dimitri's arms snaked around my waist and he gripped me so tight, I could feel his nails digging into my hips. He buried his face into my hair, and all I could do was hold him tight as he mourned over the loss of his best friend.

Dimitri cried in my arms. Dimitri cried the whole way home. Dimitri cried as I stripped him of his bloody clothes and washed him in the shower. And that day, I held him till he cried himself to sleep.