Disclaimer: I own the plot and idea. I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights go to Richelle Mead.
Rose Mazur
"Well good morning, Rose. Where'd you get the doughnut?"
"And what does the note say?"
Shit. So much for an early start to my day.
Please don't all be here, please don't all be here…
I turned around and yep; they were all here, grinning at me. I wanted to smack the smirks off their faces. But I didn't, I simply stood straighter and smiled.
"Morning guys," I greeted my team, who were all crowded around my office doorway. "Is there a particular reason you all came in half an hour early?"
"Well we've all been really busy lately," Dianna smiled casually.
"You know, with all the simulations and paperwork and keeping an eye on the situation-" Josh added.
"And we've had really little time just to sit and bond, like we used to," Lev interjected.
"So, we were thinking about a good old team breakfast!" Leigha smiled angelically.
At this they now all were smiling angelically, looking like the perfect team, ready to take my orders and execute them to a 'T.' Now, in a normal situation, where we had work to be done and a monster out there waiting for us, I would be damn proud of them and proud to call them my own. But we weren't about to run out and take on whatever threat was waiting for us; they had all conveniently showed up at the time, and thirty minutes earlier no less, because they wanted to have a team breakfast.
Sure.
"You all want to have breakfast? That's why you all showed up this early?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes," they all said in unison.
"Is that your only reason?"
"Yes." Cue even more angelic smiles.
"Guys, come on now," I narrowed my eyes.
"You know, the lack of trust is really disheartening," Lev mock frowned.
"Yeah, I mean, you're our boss and we respect you and miss you. That's all." Denis added.
Must…not…feel…guilty…
"Rose," Dianna started, looking at me with her big doe eyes, "we just want an hour to hang out with our friend, is there anything wrong with that?"
Damn it. I'm starting to feel guilty.
"Okay, but –" I started
"What are you all doing here? And especially at this hour?"
We all turned at the sound of Ben's voice, where said man was standing at the door, eyebrow raised.
"I wanted an early start to the day, but apparently our team wants to have breakfast." I answered as Ben laughed.
"Could you all be more obvious?" My partner shook his head as the team turned to glare at him.
"Thank you," I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my doughnut and headed out of my office, forgetting about getting any work done now.
"All we want is breakfast," Lev still tried to keep up the charade.
"And breakfast is what you shall receive," Christian announced as he came through the doorway, arms laden with bags. "We're having crepes, no complaints."
"Who would ever complain about crepes?" Isabella scoffed as we all came to gather around the kitchen alcove to watch our charge make us food."
As the team began to chatter, momentarily forgetting to grill me about Dimitri, I stood a bit back and took a bite of my doughnut, nearly moaning at the sweet, fresh fried dough.
"Ahem."
I turned slowly.
Ben's smirking face greeted me as he held up Dimitri's note between his middle and pointer finger. "So, love, what happened last night?"
"Shut up," I hissed around a mouth full of doughnut.
"These are amazing, Christian," Leigha sighed happily as she took a bite out of her Nutella filled crepe.
"Are you sure you don't wanna open a restaurant? There's still time to drop out of grad school," Lev joked halfheartedly.
"But if he dropped out of grad school he wouldn't be able to see Angelica," I smirked as I speared a piece of crepe.
"And that would be a tragedy," Ben grinned as Christian's ears turned red.
"Remember the day they moved past mono-syllables and actually started using full sentences?" I nudged my partner.
"Ah yes, that was a momentous occasion," Ben nodded seriously, though he had a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Remember how we texted everyone that announcement?"
"That was a great milestone in the everlasting, slow moving saga of Christian and Angelica," Denis snickered as the rest of us joined him.
"Shut up." Christian growled moodily. "At least I have some…some thing going on. The rest of you are alone!"
"Wow, no need to get mean, Chris," Lev chuckled.
"Excuse me, but I'm married with a kid," Jay interjected.
"I've been with Chuck since we've been twelve," Leigha added.
"I've had a girlfriend for two years now, thank you very much," Artur added proudly.
"And Rose has something going on with Belikov, as well," Isabelle added brightly.
And now, they all turned and stared at me expectantly.
Great.
"Yes Rose," Christian leaped at the chance to get the attention off him, "tell us about you and Belikov!"
"Actually, I think you and Angelica are much more –"
"No they're not!" Lev interjected, "they've known each other for four years now and he still can't get the nerve to ask her out!"
"Hey! I'm trying to take it slow!" Christian defended.
"Where are you even taking her?" Artur snorted. "You can't even get the nerve to ask her out to coffee."
"Yeah, at least Rose has asked Belikov out on a date already," Isabelle added brightly.
"It wasn't a date!" I defended, lamely.
It kinda, sorta was a date.
"You had dinner and a conversation with someone you have romantic feelings toward and who reciprocates, it was a date," Ben stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh! Is that what happened last night? No wonder he left in a hurry!" Leigha looked delighted at this news.
"Ooh! You were at the bar with him? What was his reaction? Give us all the details!" Denis leaned forward eager for information.
My team has officially become a group of gossiping old cronies.
"Oh it was right after I left their booth. Chuck and I saw him answer his phone, I guess that's when Rose called him-"
"Excuse me, I'm sitting right here!" I added, rolling my eyes.
They all ignored me, except Ben who started laughing.
"And then his friends started cheering and clapping his back, total guy stuff-" Leigha rolled her eyes as protests rang out from our male colleagues, "-and then, it was kinda sweet! He practically bolted out of the pub to get to the station. He was so excited he pushed on the door when it said pull and nearly ran over Guardian Petrov to get out the door. That's dedication, Rose." She finished, looking pointedly at me.
"I never said it wasn't," I muttered, cutting further into my crepe.
"Holy shit," Christian breathed out. "Actual emotion from Dimitri Belikov."
"And you were there firsthand to witness it," Josh said enviously at Leigha, who flipped her hair back proudly.
"You certainly picked the best time to talk to him," Lev praised.
Wait.
"And to give him that questionnaire," Ben added, snickering.
What?
"Excuse me!" I interjected hotly, "what exactly do you mean by 'talk' and what questionnaire did you give him?"
The entire team plus Christian froze. Well except for Ben, he continued looking amused.
"Damn it Noble! Whose side are you on?" Lev sighed.
"The side of whoever can provide me the most entertainment," Ben grinned as he took a sip of his tea.
"Somebody answer my question. Now." I hissed, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms.
It was dead silent as everyone suddenly paid deep interest in their food, no one daring to meet my gaze.
"I'm waiting," I even broke out my no-nonsense-Rosemarie-Mazur-I-can-get-my-father-to-make-you-disappear-voice, and still no reaction at all.
Finally, it was Ben who sighed and spoke up. "Each members of our team have taken it upon themselves to personally go up to Dimitri and interrogate and/or intimidate him within an inch of his life. The usual spiel will include: making sure he will not do anything bone-headed, like break your heart or hurting up in any form, then moving along to what terrible fate will await him if he does do something unsavory toward you, and then concludes with a cheerful and friendly conclusion, which is meant to confuse. Did I miss anything?" Ben blinked expectantly towards our team before breaking out into a smile and sipping more of his tea.
Judging by the looks he received, most of the team was not amused.
"Okay," I breathed out, "what did each of you do?"
Still nothing, just dead silence.
Okay fine then, I can play this game too.
"Christian?" I prompted.
"Yes?" came the response, though he did look reluctant to answer.
"If you won't tell me what you did, I will track down Angelica and ask her out for you. And I'll tell her I'm doing it because you're too chicken shit to ask her out."
"Woah," Lev whispered, "she went there."
"You wouldn't dare," Christian hissed.
"Try me," I scoffed.
Christian's eyes bored into mine.
I gazed back coolly.
"Isabella and Lev started it!" He finally blurted out.
"You're dead meat, Ozera," Isabelle hissed as I turned my gaze to her.
"What did you two do?" I asked, surprisingly calm.
"Nothing much," Lev chuckled nervously.
"If there was nothing much, then you won't mind telling me what you did." I said plainly.
"Just get it over with," Ben rolled his eyes, "it'll hurt less later."
"We just sat him down and talked to him a little bit. Just like Ben said, we swear," Isabelle rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, nothing drastic. I mean, compare to what Christian and Adrian did…" Lev shot Christian a self-satisfied smirked as I turned my attention back on our charge.
"What I did was not drastic!" The Moroi defended himself hotly.
"You're right, it was just stupid," Josh snorted.
"What did you do!" I was seriously tired of asking this question.
"He and Adrian used one of those voice altering devices and then called Dimitri, sounding like a demon out of hell who smoked twenty packs day." Dianna supplied helpfully.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said incredulously. "I can't believe you two are capable of doing something this stupid!"
"It was not a stupid idea-"
"He figured out it was you guys!" Dianna snorted.
Christian glared at her before turning back to me. "Dianna ate Dimitri's sandwich."
What the hell does that even mean? I had no words for that little tidbit of information, genuinely. Luckily, I didn't need to say anything; the others were more than willing to argue and make fun of each other for me.
"Hah! That was some real kickass work there, Di!" Josh laughed.
"The look on his face was hilarious," Jay agreed.
"Excuse me, how come Dianna is getting praised while we got yelled at?" Lev complained as Isabella and Christian nodded along.
"Because she went about this the smart way while you and Ivashkov 's covers were blown almost immediately."
"I wasn't immediately! We got out the threat before he figured out it was us!"
"I think if you had talked less about fire and burning he wouldn't have figured it out."
"Hey, you weren't there! You don't know what actually set of his suspicions!"
"I still think it was a stupid idea-"
"Hey, I was being original-"
"Enough!"
The room became quiet again and I could hear my own thoughts once again. Taking a few deep breaths, I opened my eyes to see everyone regarding me with hesitation, except for Ben. My partner merely shot me a small, sympathetic smile.
"You all are crazy," I began, my voice low. "But you're all my crazies, so I guess I won't kill you all for the stunts you've pulled." At this, everyone brightened up and began to relax, but I wasn't done yet. "I know you all did this because you care about me, and for that, I thank you all. It really means a lot, but you guys, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself, and I like to think I know what I'm doing here."
"We know how capable you are, Rose. I mean, for crying out loud, you're our boss!" Josh started as everyone nodded. "But you're also our friend, and we remember the early days, when you first came here…how different and un-Rose-like you were, all because of a guy. We all love you, and we do not want to see that happen again."
I had to smile at that, my heart truly touched.
"You guys…I love you guys," I could only shake my head and laugh as everyone cheered, happy to not have to face the full extent of my wrath. There was just one thing left to do.
"But I want to hear what you all did. I already heard from Lev, Isabelle, Christian and Dianna. What did the rest of you do?"
Leigha sighed. "I found him at happy hour and we had a small talk, he promised to take care of you and all that good stuff. But, um, I also gave him a questionnaire to fill out."
I think I looked like a fish the way my mouth kept gaping open and close at the end of Leigha's admission. Here I thought she was more on the saner side. I guess I was wrong.
"He doesn't have to fill it out if he doesn't want to-" She started before I cut her off.
"Let's just move on, okay?" I was starting to get a headache. "Next?"
"I just had a casual conversation with him in the gym," Josh spoke up. "Okay, I may have slipped in a subtle threat at the end, but that was it. Honest."
I nodded, believing Josh. He's one of the most honest people I know.
I turned to my last three team members. "And that about you guys?"
"I haven't done anything," Jay said before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Me neither," Denis grinned.
"What they said," Artur added.
"Good," I sighed silently in relief. "And it will stay that way, do you understand me?" I added sharply.
"But-" Denis started to argue, only to wither once I shot him my signature Mazur glare.
"No buts about it. You all will leave Dimitri alone. Do you understand me?"
There was a beat of hesitation before all three of them nodded, though Denis still looked rather disappointed.
"I want you guys to promise me, actually, hold up your right hands." I held up mine to demonstrate.
"Rose, don't you think this is a bit extreme- I mean, nevermind…" Artur trailed off at the look on my face, putting his right hand up.
"Okay now, repeat after me. I, as a close personal friend of Rose Mazur-"
"I, as a close personal friend of Rose Mazur-" The three chorused back at me.
"-promise we will not approach Guardian Dimitri Belikov-"
"-promise we will not approach Guardian Dimitri Belikov-"
"-or prank call him using some stupid demonic voice thing-" I continued, shooting a glare toward Christian as the rest of the team snickered.
"-or prank call him using some demonic voice thing-"
"-in order to intimidate and/or threaten him on any matters regarding Rose Mazur."
"-in order to intimidate and/or threaten him on any matters regarding Rose Mazur."
"Good boys," I smiled as I put my hand down. "And remember, if you break this promise, I will put Unsatisfactory on your next performance reports."
"Yeah, yeah," Denis pouted as we all burst into laughter.
Soon, the conversation changed topics as we returned our attentions toward other topics, and our food. I have to admit, this feels nice. I've missed being with my team like this, all of us so casual and relaxed and just enjoying each other's company. I truly have missed my team.
However, I still kept a close eye on the remaining trio who did not threaten Dimitri.
They gave in to my demands easily…way too easily.
A few days later…in a random storage closet in Elite HQ
"Should we be doing this?" The Russian whispered nervously to his companion. "What if Rose happens to walk by and-"
"Oh you worry too much." The other man whispered back as he focused on pressing the correct buttons. "The odds of Rose passing by right at this second are virtually impossible and you know it. Now hush, I'm trying to make a phone call here."
The other man sighed, knowing that what they were doing, though Rose wouldn't like it, was all for her. They wanted to see her happy, and Belikov made her happy.
They had to do this, for Rose.
The storage closet was silent, save for the faint ringing, indicating a call was being made. The ringing continued on and on for a while before-
"Алло?"
Saturday
Dimitri Belikov
My entire body was aching and sore. From the simulations that continued to test us and advance in difficulty, to the workouts I put myself through to stay on track, I was a very tired man. However, one thought, and one thought only, had gotten me through the rest of the week.
Today. Saturday.
Today, I would see Roza once again, and not in a professional setting at the Elite.
To say I had been looking forward to this would be an understatement.
It was nearly noon and I was just about to leave my room at the Guardians to head down to Rose's apartment. Honestly, I had no idea what we were going to be doing today, but I looked forward to it. I was just about to leave the room when my phone rang.
I rolled my eyes, fulling expecting it to be one of the guys. They had given me some immense grief and ribbing over my new relationship (if we could even call it that) with Rose, and over how excited I got every time I had the chance to be with her.
I didn't care. Roza was worth all the teasing and lewd jokes.
I didn't even bother to look at the caller ID before picking up.
"Hello?" I greeted impatiently as I stepped out of my room and locked the door.
"Dimitri Belikov!"
"Алло?" = Typical Russian greeting when answering a phone call according to several Internet sources. If I'm wrong, I do apologize.
Okay, so I know we were supposed to hear from a certain Mama this chapter, but that didn't happen. However, that conversation will be the first thing next chapter! I promise.
Also, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! They meant a lot coming from you guys! *sends love and cookies through the Interwebs*
I also do apologize for the lateness on this one. I've had family come visit these past few weeks, and I hit a little spell of laziness, hence the lateness and why I cut the chapter in half. It is a horrible thing to have, but I'm back!
Please leave me a little love and your thoughts in the comments and I'll see you all next time!
XOXO